


The Cure

by Athaia



Series: Planet of the Apes: Hunted [8]
Category: Planet of the Apes (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fan Reboot, Flashbacks, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, PTSD, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-02-14 07:18:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 44,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13002675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athaia/pseuds/Athaia
Summary: When a fever breaks out in a human village, the local prefect demands that Galen save her workforce from being 'sterilized' by Urko’s troops. But after a promising start, things turn ominous when one of the guards gets infected by the same illness...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based (very loosely!) on the script by Edward J. Lakso.
> 
> This is the last of the episode-based stories - after this one, it's just my imagination running wild.
> 
> Many, many thanks to the fabulous Naynish for betaing!

Virdon put the heavy bucket down with a thud and wiped his sleeve over his face. Sweat was running down his temples, his neck and back; it would probably have been easier to just lead their horses down to the river, but with his bad leg, he wasn’t sure he could control them if they got spooked. It was hard to carry the full buckets one-handed from the river to their camp, but he needed his other hand to lean on the crutch he had made for himself, once he had been strong enough to leave his cot.

He sighed and leaned against the trunk of the tree behind him; they had set up camp in the shadow of a small grove of bayberry trees that had managed to grow beyond their usual shrub-like height, to wait out the day’s heat. They were still traveling mostly at night, though no longer just to stay hidden from Urko’s patrols - now in the height of summer, the days had become so unbearably hot, that most life hid panting in whatever shadow could be found during the day. Virdon watched the mare eagerly emptying the bucket; they even had problems keeping the horses hydrated, as Tala and Apache produced bucketloads of sweat to cool themselves.

Had the weather always been that bad? During the weeks of his recovery, rolling northward in the gently-swaying cart, Virdon had tried to reconstruct their route since they had been captured. The ancient Atlanta subway station had clued him in to the fact that they were moving through former Georgia; he hadn’t recognized the shoreline when they had come crashing down through the atmosphere, though. Had Florida sunk below sea level? He couldn’t remember having seen the characteristic peninsula. And yes, Georgia had always had hot and humid summers, but he couldn’t remember that it had been this hot.

Tala’s head was diving deeper into the bucket; he’d have to bring her another one... maybe several ones. Maybe he should just loosen the knot and lead her down to the river-

A hot pain flashed down his leg, robbing his breath for a moment.

The wound itself had long closed; Galen’s... „Dr. Kova’s“ herbal decoctions had successfully battled the wound fever, and even the bronchitis that had flared up after he had thought it long healed - maybe the damage to his lungs from the dust and the unidentified gas in that subway station would be permanent.

But the nerve was still making his life hell; there were still numb spots down the length of his leg, and at least once a day, the leg would suddenly be on fire, cramping up and tingling as if he’d touched a live wire. It wasn’t the muscle damage that forced him to lean heavily on that wooden crutch. Maybe he’d be condemned to limp through this world for the rest of his days.

The pain subsided a bit, enough that Virdon could take a cautious breath; he grabbed the empty bucket and started his fifth round of watering the horses. The camp lay deserted; Galen and Zana were dozing inside the cart, and Pete was roaming the riverbanks, checking their traps and keeping an eye at the road for patrols.

If they ever made it back to their own time, he’d never fly again, Virdon mused, as he gingerly crab-walked down the slope to the waterline. Not that he’d mind; he had promised Sally to stay earthbound anyway, as a flight instructor for the next generation of explorers. But before that, he’d need a long stay in rehab.

If they ever made it back.

Virdon stared at the running water that was throwing the sun’s glare into his face. In the silent, pain-stricken hours of noon, when everyone was dozing, exhausted from the pounding heat, he had again and again touched on, and shied away from, the thought that Pete had been right about this world’s capacity to provide them a way back. That they were stranded here for the rest of their lives.

That his family was irrevocably lost to him.

Virdon squeezed his eyes shut against the glare and slowly sank into a one-legged crouch, keeping his injured side carefully stretched, and held the bucket into the stream. Within moments, it began to drag at his arm, and he pulled it out again with a groan. Water sloshed over the rim and soaked his trousers - a welcome refreshment. He should follow the apes’ example and get some rest. But the pain in his leg always seemed to flare up when he was trying to sleep, and the horses needed their water.

He had pushed himself up on the bucket’s rim and his crutch when the shot cracked, loud enough, _near_ enough, to make him dive for cover. For a moment he lay trembling in the soft mud of the riverbank, hidden among the reeds; then he ran his hand down his side, almost expecting it to touch wet heat.

But when he held it up before his eyes, his palm was clean, just muddy and wet from the river’s water. Whoever had fired that shot had probably not aimed at him-

_Pete!_

Virdon scrambled to his feet, ignoring the hot pain drilling into his hip, ignoring the danger that whoever had shot _had_ been aiming at him and just missed the first time around, snatched up his crutch and hop-limped up the slope towards the camp, a vision of Pete’s broken eyes burning in his mind, a red-spattered hole in his forehead...

_Please, God, no..._

* * *

The crack of a rifle whipped through Galen’s dream, jolting him upright in his bed. For a moment he just sat there, blinking, dizzy from the heat and the half-reality of jumbled images in his mind, unsure if he hadn’t dreamed the gunshot, too.

Then Alan stumbled heavily against the frame of the cart, gripping the wood with white knuckles. He peered inside over the tail board, wild-eyed. „Where’s Pete? You heard that shot?“

In the next moment, he had pushed away from the plank and bent down, out of Galen’s sight; he had probably lost his crutch in his wild race to the cart.

When his head reappeared, his eyes were still wide and wild with panic. „We need to find him! If he’s wounded... they can’t just shoot him! They can’t just shoot a human without checking his papers first!“

„Alan, calm down.“ Galen climbed over Zana’s legs, ignoring her mumbled question what was going on, steadying himself on the wooden crates and cabinets that held their herbs and equipment; he still felt dizzy, knocked out from the heat. „A lot of people go bird hunting along the river, it may just have been a hunter...“

„Maybe.“ Alan’s face was tense and sweat-covered. He was leaning heavily on his crutch. „But I’ve learned that the most hunted animal in these parts is human.“

„Do you know where he went?“ Galen jumped out into the glare that was burning itself through the canopy; the heat under the cotton cover had been suffocating, but dull, compared with the fiery assault sizzling his fur now. He retreated back into the slim shadow of the wagon.

Alan didn’t seem to feel the sun, although he looked as if he’d break down with a heat stroke any moment. „Upriver, collecting our traps. If they shot him for poaching...“ He broke off, wiping his face with his free hand. „We need to find him,“ he repeated. „Damn my leg... Can you...?“

Would there ever be an end to this routine? For a moment, Galen felt utterly exhausted; hot, thirsty, dizzy, tired... completely unable to deal with this latest emergency. The sheer frequency of them was beginning to dull his response.

Just as he opened his mouth to call for Zana to help them with their search, a movement at the mouth of the clearing caught his attention.

It was Peet. But he was walking with his hands folded behind his head.

And then a rider appeared in the bend of the road; following Peet in a lazy walk, rifle pointed at his head. As they came closer, Galen could see Peet’s face more clearly: pale under the tan, jaws clenched, his expression carefully blank.

Alan had turned to follow his gaze; he inhaled with a sharp hiss, but kept otherwise silent. This was a situation where only apes should be talking. Galen sighed inwardly; he didn’t look forward to a conversation about not keeping one’s humans nearby and a lecture about hunting regulations. And their money had run low after his last purchase of the wagon and its equipment... he wondered how high the fine would be. More than they could afford, plus a small donation off the record for the officer...

Who had stopped now in the middle of the clearing, letting his gaze wander slowly over Galen, his other human, the wagon, their campfire, and back to Galen. Peet had stopped, too, hands still behind his head, staring straight ahead without looking at anyone. Galen was sure the human felt the muzzle of the officer’s rifle pointing at the back of his head; Peet’s instincts were sharp like that of a wild animal.

Well, he wasn’t exactly domesticated.

„That’s yours?“ The officer’s voice was bored, but Galen didn’t let that fool him; anyone on patrol during this time of the day was either dutiful to the point of fanaticism, or on a mission. If Peet had been caught in the wake of whatever operation, it would need all of Galen’s wit and diplomacy to ease them out of it again. He didn’t want to enjoy a repeat of Aken’s hospitality.

„That’s my human, officer,“ he said cautiously. „I allowed it to roam about while we were waiting for the greatest heat to pass. I hope it didn’t trespass on someone’s ground...?“

„I almost shot it,“ the rider said, without the slightest hint of regret or reproach. „Better keep it on a leash in these parts. We’re under orders to shoot any human outside the villages.“

Galen saw a muscle jump in Peet’s jaw; his eyes were still not focused on anyone, but they were ablaze with fury. Galen remembered the gunshot they’d heard; whatever had happened, Peet had witnessed it. It wouldn’t help his attitude towards the apes... but that was something he’d gladly leave to Zana to solve.

„Come here,“ he ordered, and after a moment’s hesitation, maybe to make sure he wouldn’t be shot for moving, Peet let his arms sink and crossed the clearing. He took position at Alan’s side, well away from Galen.

Galen didn’t care; his attention was on the police officer. „That seems to be... an unusually strict measure, officer,“ he said cautiously. „Is there a reason for that? I mean,“ he hastened to add, „something we should be aware of as long as we’re passing through? If there is a danger for my wife, or my humans...“

The Chimp inhaled and pursed his lips. „There’s a fever spreading around here among the humans, and it’s killing them off left and right. The prefect’s ordered a quarantine for the village so that it doesn’t spread into the other prefectures, but the damn beasts are breaking through the cordon all the time. Can’t allow that, see? So we shoot them, to keep the others from trying it. But I can’t guarantee that one doesn’t get through, after all; that one can infect your humans, so like I said, keep them on a leash.“ He nodded towards Peet. „That’ll save you from paying fines for poaching, too.“

Both humans had gone very still and very silent during the officer’s little speech; Galen could feel the tension radiating from them like he could feel the heat of their campfire, even without looking at it. It made his fur bristle; he was glad that the officer was on his horse, and was still keeping his rifle nested in the crook of his arm. It would keep them from doing something rash, something... violent.

He was keeping ape-killers; the realization still made him nauseous. Yes, towards him they were respectful, and both were doting on Zana, but that didn’t change the fact that any sensible ape would’ve put them down ages ago. How could he justify this madness?

He pushed that thought away; the Chimp would turn his horse around and leave, and he’d let Zana and Alan deal with Peet...

The Chimp’s eyes lit up with interest at something behind him; Galen narrowed his eyes and turned to follow his gaze. If that officer was making eyes at Zana...

„You’re an animal doctor?“

He had noticed their flag - an ape head with two cow horns above it. Peet had made jokes about it, saying it looked like a demon from their mythology, but to any ape it signaled that „Dr. Kova“ would treat inflamed udders, piglets with diarrhea, or humans that had stepped on a rusty nail.

Galen turned back, filled with a dark premonition. „That’s correct, officer.“

The black-clad Chimp smiled a delighted smile down at him. „Terrific, doc - the prefect will be happy to see you. Good thing I caught your human, huh?“

* * *

„There’s no reason not to stay and see us through this crisis.“ The prefect glared at Galen. „You said yourself that you haven’t found a prefecture yet where you’d want to establish a permanent practice, so it’s not as if you’re expected somewhere. And who knows, maybe you’ll find our little patch of land not so bad after you’ve settled in.“

Galen rubbed his hands over his knees and smiled nervously. Prefect Kanla had made it clear from the beginning that she wouldn’t take no for an answer; she was just trying to let him save face, which she didn’t have to do. Galen supposed he should be grateful for that gesture of good will, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Zana... about the baby.

She still hadn’t said a word to him, although by now, she already had to be through half of her pregnancy; if she kept this up, she’d only come clean once she entered labour, Galen thought sardonically. It made bowing out of his current predicament infinitely more difficult, though - if he told Kanla that he didn’t want to risk an infection of his pregnant wife, she’d probably just offer to house Zana in town, which meant he’d still have to treat the humans in that village - but how would he justify her unusual lodgings to Zana? She still believed that he was completely oblivious to her state.

_Do I really want to risk the health of our baby for the satisfaction that she’d have to break down and tell the truth first?_

He sighed, a long drawn-out exhale. „Please understand, Prefect - under normal circumstances, I’d be more than happy to help. Treating sick animals is not only my profession, but also my passion. But one of my own humans is still recovering from an injury itself, and my wife is pregnant. We cannot know if this illness is dangerous for apes, too, and I can’t justify endangering her health, or that of my child.“

„I get that, I really do,“ Kanla said with a shrug, „but you also need to take my side of this into account, Doctor. I need these humans - apes simply can’t work in this heat. Who’s going to harvest the cotton? This prefecture gets most of its income from it, and this is the first time in three years that it looks as if we’d get through harvest time without storms destroying our crops. We may not get out of debt, but maybe we can move closer towards being just dirt poor.“ She leaned back, her calm gaze pinning him in his seat. She was a middle-aged Chimp, fur already graying around her face, a soldier who had seen it all and wasn’t shocked or outraged by much. But now, Galen thought he could detect worry deepening the lines in her face.

„I was under the impression that the humans have their own healers to take care of their problems,“ he hedged. „It’s rare that I’m called to treat one of them, mostly it’s just cows with udder infections, or treating pig erysipelas...“

Kanla waved his objection away. „Yes, they treat their sick with herbs and superstitious nonsense, and claim victory for their hexes when nature takes its course and the creature eventually recovers on its own, but this is different. This fever has already taken out two thirds of the old ones and many, many cubs, and it’s now starting to reap the strong - the adults and the adolescents. My workforce, Doctor, you understand? I have to do something! The Mothers sent you my way, I’d have to be criminally incompetent not to make use of you.“

Galen didn’t like where this conversation was going; the prefect had stopped just short of impressment, and he wasn’t sure if she wouldn’t still go there, in the end. „I must decline, Prefect - the health of my wife and my own working animals takes precedence.“ He started to rise.

„Not so fast.“

The prefect’s voice and gaze had gained a steely note all of a sudden. Galen exhaled softly and sat down again.

„I want to do this civilly, you understand?“ Kanla leaned forward in her seat, one elbow propped up on her armrest. „But there’s just no way that you can bow out of this assignment. I know there’s a healer’s vow that you’ve sworn - to help those in need.“

„That vow refers exclusively to apes, I’m afraid,“ Galen said, and pushed the memory of Kira out of his mind.

„Well,“ Kanla said dryly, „I’m in need, and I’m an ape. Welcome to your new practice, Doctor. You can start treating my humans at once. I’ll arrange lodgings for your wife here in town, and Tilan will escort you to the village.“

 _Now_ he was dismissed. Galen rose, and bowed, and left without another word. Tilan, the guard who had escorted them here after he had captured Peet, was waiting at the other side of the door.

He beamed at Galen. „Welcome to Pendan prefecture, doc - you’ll like it here.“

„I have my doubts about that, Tilan,“ Galen said sourly. „It seems my wife will be held hostage in your town until I’ve miraculously healed your prefect’s working troupe.“

Tilan frowned. „Hostage? That sounds a bit over the top, doc. The prefect won’t do no such thing.“

They stepped out of the prefecturate and into the blazing afternoon heat. Alan had parked the wagon in the shadow of a huge walnut tree; he and Peet were talking to a little Chimp girl.

Zana was nowhere to be seen.

Galen drew a deep breath. This couldn’t happen in a more public place than on that town’s main square, in full daylight, with Pendan’s finest, _and_ their humans as audience.

_Well, it’s fitting, isn’t it? Truth loves the light._

He straightened with a determined sniff, and quickly descended the few steps to the plaza.

Time to talk to Zana.

* * *

Burke was acutely aware that there was a kid staring at him.

She had been standing on the sidewalk for at least five minutes now, watching him and Al with unabashed interest as they were watering the horses - well, he was watering them; Al was handing him the empty buckets back, but hell, the man was injured and should actually be sitting inside the wagon with Zana - and Burke was sure that she’d start talking to them any moment now. He could just almost _see_ the words crawling up the little chimp’s throat and battling to come out.

He just hoped he’d be at the well in the middle of the plaza when that happened. He really didn’t feel like talking with kids right now, or with apes, and most of all, not with ape kids. The chimp was wearing a sky blue skirt and a matching ribbon in her fur.

She was wearing a fucking _ribbon._ Burke tried not to gawk at it.

A movement at the edge of his vision made him turn his head. Galen was coming down the steps of the prefect’s building, and he didn’t look happy. The chimp who had caught him in the marches was trailing him, looking like a warden escorting a prisoner. Burke straightened and threw a glance to Al, who returned his look with slightly raised brows.

Yeah, that looked like trouble alright.

Burke pretended to focus on watering the horses, but kept his body slightly angled so that he could keep an eye on the guard; at the front wheel of their wagon, the chimp girl had been chatting up Al and was now demanding to see his scar from the gunshot, but she was distracted from dragging his pants down by the arrival of Galen and the officer. „Daddy!“

Burke watched her jump into the chimp’s arms and squeal with delight as he whirled her around. The guard sat his daughter on his shoulders and listened to her chatter with an indulgent grin. It was... it was unsettling a bit.

He preferred not to think about the guards having families.

Burke turned away from that heart-melting scene and turned his attention back to the horses. He lifted the empty buckets and carried them to the back of the wagon to hang them up on the tail board, but stopped in his tracks when he heard voices from inside the wagon.

„It’s not as if I had a choice, Zana - the prefect has made that more than clear to me! She needs her humans in good health, and the fever has already killed off quite a number of them. And we _are_ carrying the flag of the physician on our cart.“

It wasn’t as if you had any privacy in the wagon, only separated from the outside world by wood and a cotton plane, and Burke was careful not to make any noise. Shit was going down, and he and Al would inevitably be caught up in it. He had a right to eavesdrop.

„But you _aren’t_ a veterinarian, Galen!“ That was Zana’s voice, hissing so that the chimp outside wouldn’t hear her. „We can’t stay with them in their village! What if Alan or Peet get infected? Alan has just recovered from his injury, and he’s still coughing sometimes...“

That... was true. Al still hadn’t recovered from the tons of crumbled concrete he had inhaled in that damn hole under the city, and then he’d raced to get him out of Urko’s dungeon, and then he’d been shot... poor bastard couldn’t catch a break.

They had never talked about what had happened - what Al had found in that hole, under the ruins. If he had found anything that would’ve tipped him off about the truth of this world, he hadn’t mentioned it. So maybe he still thought they had crashed on some alternate Earth. But to be fair, Burke hadn’t exactly been eager to talk about his time with Urko, either, so... they had continued on a don’t ask, don’t tell basis.

„I’m afraid I can’t do without them. This is a whole village we’re talking about, and besides, it would look strange if I sent my orderlies away. You know how humans are viewed, Zana - they’re replaceable.“

He shouldn’t feel sucker punched by that. He shouldn’t. He knew it was true.

„Maybe ‘humans’ are replaceable, but Alan and Peet are not. And we’re not going to sacrifice them just so that this prefect can balance her budget!“

And suddenly, he could breathe again. _Bless you, Zana._

„Zana.“ Burke could tell that Galen was speaking through clenched teeth. „I’m not going to endanger our cover - which has given us the longest uninterrupted time of relative peace, _and_ the opportunity for Alan to recover from his injury, ever since we started this ill-fated adventure - by antagonizing that prefect. She’s desperate; we’re claiming to practice the very profession that addresses problems like the one she has. We simply don’t have a reasonable excuse to deny her our help.“

There was a long pause; then Burke heard her sigh. „You’re right. We just have to... have to hope for the best.“

„You’d go with us?“ Galen’s voice sounded... strange. Burke couldn’t lay a finger upon what exactly was resonating in the ape’s voice, but it put him on instant alert.

Virdon was by his side all of a sudden; either he had learned to float while on crutches, or Burke had been too captivated by the conversation at the other side of the tarp. „What-“

Burke waved at him to be silent; something was going on in there, and he had a hunch that it was important.

„Well, of course I’ll go with you,“ Zana said, and Burke thought he could hear a faint trembling in her voice now; whatever he had sensed in Galen’s voice, she had heard it, too. „Where else should I go?“

„You could stay in town until this is over.“

Burke was still trying to define the undertone in Galen’s voice - something guarded, something... ready to pounce.

„I... I guess I could...“ Zana sounded... fearful?

 _What the hell is going on with these two?_ He threw a quick glance to Virdon, and was taken aback by the pained look on his face. Al seemed to know exactly what was going on in there. _Thanks for letting me in on your private little understandings, buddy._ Of course they’d have closed ranks while he was gone. But yeah, they could’ve let him back in, afterwards...

„But I want to go with you, Galen. I could help. You said it yourself, you need all the help you can get...“

„I don’t believe it. I don’t _believe_ it!“ The wagon began to sway as Galen jumped up and began to pace. Burke wondered absently where he found the space in there to walk back and forth, but that thought was immediately swept aside by the ape’s next words. „I can’t believe that you’d endanger the health of the baby just to keep up this... this charade! This secrecy!“

 _The... the_ what?

Burke turned his head, wide-eyed, but again, Virdon didn’t look in the least surprised, only worried. So he had known, Galen had known. Zana, well, duh. Burke licked his lips. But for some reason, Zana hadn’t wanted _him_ to know.

Well, and she had also kept it from Galen, for some reason. Burke still felt like the fifth wheel all of a sudden. How had the ape found out? „Did you tell him?“ he whispered.

Virdon just shook his head.

„Then how the hell does he know? And why didn’t she tell hi-“

„Come in, you two!“ Galen’s stern voice was sounding directly at his ear. Burke flinched. „I can hear you whispering - we’re just separated by a thin layer of cotton, you know?“

He and Virdon exchange a look; then Burke rounded the wagon and climbed inside. Virdon followed more slowly, dragging his bad leg over the tail board and snagging his crutch at the herb cabinet.

The apes waited until they had both settled down. Zana looked dazed, as if she had just been hit by a truck. Galen looked livid... in a stone-cold way that was somehow much more frightening than even the worst tantrums of Burke’s old man had ever been.

„Who of you knew about this?“ Galen demanded to know. His eyes bored into him for a moment, and Burke was transported back to that moment in the corridor of Kira’s clinic, when Galen had snarled at him, and his hand unconsciously curled into a fist on his thigh, around an invisible hilt.

But Galen’s glare had already settled on Al, and a glint of cold irony shone from his eyes now. „And how long have you known?“

„She hadn’t told me, either,“ Virdon murmured. His hand was rubbing his hip, where the bullet had hit him. „But I’m a father myself. I... I could see it.“

„Yes,“ Galen said dryly. „Apparently, you’re very observant. And discreet.“

„I wanted to tell you, Galen.“ Zana’s voice was thick with tears, but her eyes were dry. „I was waiting for the right moment, but... when I tried to talk about it, you were so adamantly against the very thought of it, and, and I was afraid you’d disapprove...“ And now she was dabbing her eyes, and Burke felt his heart grow heavy, and he wanted to go over to her and hug her.

But Galen was between them, a cold fire of hurt and betrayed trust, and suddenly the wagon was too cramped and there were too many apes too close to him and he couldn’t breathe properly.

He scrambled to his feet, stumbled and almost fell over Al’s crutch, and jumped out of the back.

The air outside was hot and heavy, but he still found that he could breathe more easily. He felt guilty for not having stuck with Zana, but he was still there, wasn’t he? The others were just a few feet away, and he could still hear everything with perfect clarity.

„Well, you did it,“ Galen was saying. „I _do_ disapprove, but not of the baby.“

„How long have you known?“ Zana choked.

„Long enough to be deeply disappointed in you.“ Galen’s voice was flat. Not even angry. „All the world is out to destroy us. I had thought that we at least could trust each other. But I was wrong. Well. They say the truth hurts, but they got it wrong.

„It’s the lies that hurt, once you know of them.“

* * *

Tilan’s house was the brick-and-mortar version of a human hut - apparently, only better-off apes could afford to live in houses that their forebears would’ve approved of; the common ape had to make do with a less extravagant, ground-level house. Virdon found its familiarity at once comforting and haunting, but he wondered if an ape wouldn’t feel resentful against a style of building that reminded them of the housing type of the lesser species.

Tilan didn’t seem to mind, though; he led the way, his little daughter riding on his back, to hand Zana to his wife, who was awaiting her under the door, an even tinier chimpanzee on her hip. Galen had been adamant in his insistence that Zana should wait out this... situation until he had brought it under control, and Zana, devastated by his quiet fury and her own guilty conscience, hadn’t argued, for once.

Pete was following her, balancing a crate with her things on his shoulder. He looked sullen, or maybe it was just his way to hide his unease; he had practically jumped out of the wagon when Galen had started to tear into Zana.

Virdon sighed and leaned heavily against the front wheel. Galen was still sitting in the driver’s seat, refusing to accompany his fiancée inside, and Virdon felt no inclination to join the brooding chimp up there. So he watched the little procession vanish into the house, save for Tilan’s daughter who had jumped off her father’s back and was now eyeing their horses, and him. He hoped she wouldn’t remember that she had wanted to see his gunshot scar; he wasn’t allowed to refuse her, and Galen didn’t look as if he’d be interested in stepping in on his behalf right now.

To his relief, the girl had to stay with her mother when they set off. He and Burke retreated to the tail end of the wagon, putting as much distance between them and Galen as possible. Viron cast a searching glance at the younger man; Burke’s face was shuttered, and he avoided making eye contact. Pride wouldn’t allow him to admit that any sign of anger from an ape was frightening him now; Virdon decided not to break the subject. He stared at the town’s stockade instead, which was slowly retreating as the wagon swayed down the sandy track towards the human settlement.

„With all the stinkin’ water puddles, these people have a permanent subscription for malaria,“ Burke finally remarked over the high-pitched buzzing of mosquitoes. „It’s as if they’re farming the damn pests.“

„They have ditches.“ Virdon pointed. „They need to drainage their fields, or they won’t be able to grow anything but rice in them. But that just moves the problem around, and probably too close to their village. We need to see where they drained all that water to.“

„And then what? You an’ I ain’t gonna dig those ditches for them - you won’t, in any case, with your bad leg...“ Burke studied him with a frown. „How’s the leg these days, by the way?“

„Better.“ He consciously stilled his hand at his hip; he had developed a habit of rubbing the spot when it was aching.

Burke was chewing the inside of his lip; he didn’t look convinced. „Uh-huh. Still. No heavy work for you, Colonel. An’ with what I’ve overheard, half of that village is too sick to stand upright. They won’t dig that ditch, either. So the doc is gonna fight against windmills here. As long as the damn mosquitos are around, people will catch that fever from them quicker than he can stomp it out.“

Virdon drew a slow breath. Pete was right; as long as they didn’t remove the cause of the infection, the fever would flare up around them again and again. He realized that he really didn’t feel up to the task of draining the swamps around the village; he still felt exhausted after the slightest exertion, tired and bone-weary. „We need to find a solution, Pete, or we’ll be stuck here for a long time. And I don’t know about you, but I want to reach those mountains as quickly as possible.“ From what Galen had told them, Urko’s reach ended at the Appalachians. Virdon hoped that Pete would be able to relax once they had shaken off his tormentor for good.

„Yeah, and the longer we stay, the more we risk getting bitten ourselves,“ Burke muttered. He gave him a sideways glance. „Did you remember to bring your anti-malaria meds from the ship?“

Virdon huffed a laugh, and Burke smiled sardonically. „Yeah, me neither. Must’ve lost them somewhere along the way.“

„We need to protect ourselves somehow,“ Virdon mused. Pete was right - they couldn’t afford to catch Malaria, West Nile, or some mutated virus that would probably kill them both off in a matter of days; they didn’t share these people’s immunity against whatever had developed in the time gap between the _Icarus’_ departure and her arrival here.

He refused to die in this future. He’d die back in his own time, dammit.

A sharp pain pricked his neck, and he slapped at it. Maybe that one had just injected that mutated virus into his bloodstream... „We need to cover every inch of bare skin as long as we’re there.“ He turned his head to scan the interior of the wagon. „Need to close the openings in the cover, too... I wonder if we can get some thin fabric from the villagers, something like a mosquito netting...“

„I don’t think I can dig a ditch if I’m covered like a mummy, Al,“ Burke objected. „I’ll drop dead from heatstroke after five minutes.“

„Burn wet reeds then, anything that produces lots of smoke.“ Virdon fought to get on his feet, dragging himself up at the herb cabinet. „And slap on that repellant we got from Ango - I think Zana made a fresh batch two days ago. You can’t afford to fall ill, Pete. Neither of us can.“

He didn’t wait for an answer as he crawled to the head of the wagon where Galen was still brooding on the driver’s seat. The ape didn’t acknowledge him when he clumsily settled on the seat beside him. Virdon took a moment to catch his breath and survey the land around him.

They were rolling over an elevated cart track, though the cotton stood high enough to conceal that difference. Virdon wondered why the apes in this prefecture insisted on cultivating a plant that loved _dry_ heat; although he had joked about it, rice would have been a more logical choice. Right now, there were only a few mosquitos buzzing about - this part of the region was drainaged to protect the crops. He suspected that this would change once they were approaching the village.

Tilan was riding about twenty yards ahead of them, sufficiently far away not to catch their conversation if they kept their voices low.

„It wasn’t my place to tell you,“ Virdon said quietly. „I had no right.“

For a long while, Galen said nothing.

„Since when did you know?“ He was still looking straight ahead, his face tense and withdrawn.

Virdon leaned back with a deep inhale, and absently massaged his scar. „I had suspected it since before Pete was captured. She was always complaining about sore muscles, and being tired all the time... and she developed these strange food cravings... it reminded me of my wife, when she was pregnant with our first child.“ It hurt to mention his family, but he managed to keep his voice calm and factual.

He sighed. „And I begged her to tell you when I was in that clinic... and her reaction told me I was right, so if you want to be exact, I knew for sure since then. She was panicking, Ga- Doctor.“ He couldn’t be sure that Tilan didn’t catch a word, now and then. „She wasn’t holding back out of malice, but out of fear. Fear... makes a fool out of the best of us.“

„And you think telling me that she fears me makes this whole disaster more palatable for me?“ Galen flicked him an ironic glance.

„It’s not you she feared - but that you’d disapprove.“ Virdon tiredly rubbed his face. There were more immediate things he wanted to talk about with Galen, but it was clear that he’d only have the chimp’s ear once this was sorted out somehow. „She didn’t want to lose your good opinion of her...“

„Why would I think bad of her for getting pregnant?“ Galen asked, clearly irritated. „It’s not as if I wasn’t doing my part, too. We were both foolish and irresponsible-“ He broke off. „Maybe she was afraid I’d demand that she’d get rid of it... it would be the most sensible response.“

„Maybe,“ Virdon said uneasily. „That’s something you need to talk about with _her,_ though. Right now, we need a plan how to address this fever. I already told Pete we need to drain those pools with stagnant water that breed mosquitoes...“

Galen raised his brows. „Why? They are a nuisance, but this is not about affording these people irrelevant amenities.“

Just where were the apes in medical history, Virdon wondered. Did they still believe in humors and miasmas? Demons? Bad winds? „Irrelevant? How do you think the fever developed?“

Galen shrugged. „According to professor Zulma, humans are containers of all sorts of illnesses. As proof he always cited a study determining that human bites are the most poisonous of all animals, even worse than cat bites. Did you know that?“

„Uhmm... no,“ Virdon lied.

„They’re unclean creatures, an’ that’s that,“ Tilan remarked, who had slowed down his horse so that he was now level with Galen. „But they can work in the worst heat, and as long as they’re useful,“ his gaze rested meaningfully on Virdon’s hand that was rubbing the sore spot on his hip, „we let ‘em live.“ He nodded towards the bend in the road ahead of them.

„See the red band in the willow tree? That’s the point of no return. Once you’ve crossed that line, you need to stay inside until that fever’s gone. Anyone we see on this side of the quarantine markings will be shot. I’m giving you fair warning, doc - ape or human, doesn’t make a difference. Can’t risk this illness to spread.“ He brought his horse to a halt. „I need to leave you here. Wish you good luck, doc. Don’t let the humans bite you!“

„Well,“ Galen turned to Virdon after Tilan had vanished, „I suggest we enjoy our last moments in freedom.“ He took a deep draw from his water flask and handed it to Virdon. „It seemed to me that you had your own theory about the causes of this human fever.“

Virdon took the flask. „It seemed to _me_ that you were pretty convinced of professor Zulma’s explanation,“ he said slowly.

„I’m convinced of only one thing,“ Galen said and flicked the lines. The wagon slowly swayed past the fiery warning of the plague band.

„And that is that every single thing I ever believed in was a lie.“


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Burke noticed when they were rumbling into the village was that the pitch of the humming changed; the high buzz of the mosquitos was joined by the deeper droning of flies. His lips peeled back in disgust; that sound could only mean one thing.

_Swarms of flies would fly up, break out of their mouths, you wouldn’t believe how loud they’d hiss, like an angry cat._

He shook his head to get rid of the voice and jumped off the wagon before the avalanche of memories could jiggle loose.

„Ah, damn!“ His feet were sticking in black mud. The whole village was surrounded by pools of stagnant water, and the torrent rains had lifted the water level almost to the surface. The mud stank of rotting water and moulding soil.

And another stench was wafting under his nose, making him gag - decaying bodies.

He slowly turned around his axis. A man was lying in one of the doorways, unmoving. Flies were covering the corpse, their crawling bodies glinting blue-green in the glaring sun.

_Swarms of flies erupting, breaking out of their mouths..._

He tore his gaze away to scan the survivors. The dull, hollow eyes of the villagers stared at him without curiosity, or even recognition. Many of them were probably not even aware of the wagon that had stopped a few yards ahead of him. They were lying in the doorways, or propped up against the mud-brick walls of their huts. Almost no children, a few men, a few women... all ugly. Maybe it was the illness that made them unattractive, skin drawn over their skulls, fevered eyes sunken in their sockets. Maybe it was just him.

He felt bad for noticing - these people were seriously ill, he shouldn’t check them out for girls he’d like...

But that’s not what it was! It was just that he had noticed that even in other villages, where people were healthy, and friendly, he hadn’t found a single girl he’d wanted to flirt with, and ever since he’d become aware of it, he compulsively checked his response whenever they met other humans. And it was always like now - he just couldn’t... couldn’t get excited anymore.

About anything.

„Humans! I am Doctor Kova!“

Burke turned his gaze to Galen, grateful for the diversion; the ape had stopped the wagon in the middle of the village square, and was now standing on the driver’s seat. „Gather here to receive your orders!“

Slowly, the humans fought out from their stupor and shuffled over to him, forming a loose circle. Burke waded through the black, stinking mud to the front of the wagon; the water was already soaking through his shoes.

Galen let his gaze sweep imperiously over the gathered humans; he was completely submerged in his role now, ape master over his human subjects, and Burke felt his back stiffen with atavistic fury.

Fury and fear. And shame about the fear, and fury about the shame...

He blinked and forced himself to focus on the ape’s next words.

„I’m a doctor for animal diseases,“ Galen declared, still scanning the crowd for inattentive listeners, „sent by your prefect to treat the fever that is keeping you from doing the work the Lawgiver has ordained for you. You will follow my orders, as well as the orders from my humans, swiftly and exactly, and we will cure you in a matter of days.“

 _Just buy this oil of rattlesnake,_ Burke thought sardonically, _it’ll cure all ailments, from acne to stinky feet and pneumonia._

But Galen’s next orders were surprisingly sensible, which made Burke suspect that he had gotten them from Al, who was sitting on the seat next to the ape, head down, holding the reins, the perfect image of an obedient servant.

_Dammit, Colonel, you commanded a spaceship! I know we’re outnumbered here, but don’t bow your back so willingly!_

Virdon lifted his gaze as if he’d heard him, and Burke was taken aback by the look of utter exhaustion in his face. His leg had to be bothering him more than he’d admitted...

„Polo!“

Burke flinched; he still hadn’t gotten used to his new name. Galen had insisted on it, claiming that their real names were just too unusual to go unnoticed and unremembered, and for some reason, had held on to the name he had made up on the spot when they had been raiding Zaius’ home for the surgery book.

Galen was still looking at him.

Burke ground his teeth for a moment. „Sir?“

„You’ll take as many able males as you can find and bury the dead,“ Galen ordered. „Go through the huts and make sure you get all of the corpses. They are breeding grounds for the illness.“

Burke drew a deep breath. It _was_ a sensible and necessary measure, but _goddammit,_ why did _he_ have to move those fly-covered, bloated, stinking... He swallowed. „Yes, sir.“

Galen nodded curtly. „Get to it.“

Slowly, reluctantly, Burke turned to the villagers, to collect the ones still able to hold a shovel. Behind him, Galen told „Tamas“ to find the biggest building and require it as hospital, and to see to it that all sick humans were collected there.

More containment measures; yeah, he’d bet his - ha, no, Urko’s now - ANSA knife that this was Al’s strategy.

Good thing - maybe they’d even survive to leave this stinking, death-ridden mudhole again. Burke sent one of the men to collect shovels and took stock of his work force.

Fourteen men, half of them not a day older than twelve; bony, pale, eyes burning with the first onset of the fever. He sent one away who was already swaying on his feet. They were thirteen now - lucky number, eh?

„Alright, guys.“ He made sure to make eye contact with each of them. „I know it’s probably not how you usually honor your dead, but this is a special case - we’re racing against time, and the sooner they’re covered, the better for the rest of us. We’ll just dig one big hole for all of them. And then we’re gonna dig some more, to get rid of all this stinkin’, bug-infested water around your huts.“ He smiled grimly.

„So better think up nice names for your shovels, because you and them will become best buddies over the next days.“

* * *

The humans were in bad shape, Galen decided when he let his gaze travel over them; most of them were already showing signs of the fever. It would be more difficult to get the illness under control than he had feared, with so many of them ill. If what Alan had told him about the mosquitos was true, they would need to drain the marches around the village, but for that, they needed workers. It wasn’t something Peet could do all by himself, and Alan was still not fit for heavy work.

He had sent Alan to organize the rest of his suggested measures - collect the sick in one place, isolated from those who might yet have escaped the fever; close windows and doorways with gauze to keep out the mosquitos which Alan swore were carrying the disease; and burn fragrant herbs to chase the remaining pests away.

None of these maneuvers, as worthwhile they were in cleaning up the village, would cure the sick, though. They needed more direct measures. And he needed to know what had already been done in that regard.

Galen urged the horses towards the barn that Alan had chosen for their makeshift hospital and parked the wagon alongside the windowless long side of the building. He’d need to send one of his humans to guard their belongings at night, he mused when he climbed down from his seat and gingerly eased his foot into the squishy black mud; everyone knew that humans were worse than magpies.

„You,“ he stopped a young woman who didn’t look as sick as the others, „what’s your name?“

„Ehme, master.“ The woman crossed her wrists in front of her chest and bowed quickly, but not deeply; apparently, this prefecture insisted on the more demonstrative signs of submission. That... could become a problem, if the more rural districts kept to the same or even stricter standards, the farther away they moved from the City. Galen couldn’t imagine that Peet would react well to demands that he adapt to those standards.

He didn’t have time to worry about that now. „Who has taken care of the sick until now?“

The girl shrugged. „We all did, master - everyone who’s still on their feet cares for them who can’t get up from their cots anymore.“

Galen eyed her critically. She wasn’t lying; but she also wasn’t telling him everything. „And nobody bothered to treat them with herbs and hexes, like your kind usually does? That’s hard to believe.“

Ehme’s reddening face told him all he needed to know. „Take me to your healer. Come now, I won’t do anything to her,“ he added impatiently when he saw the fear in the girl’s eyes, „but I need to know which herbs she used.“ So he’d know which herbs had already proven useless. He didn’t need to know about the hexes: they, of course, were _all_ useless.

To his surprise, Ehme led him inside the barn, where Alan was already busy with directing the villagers to set up beds, divide sections with swathes of thin fabric, and divide off a bigger section whose purpose wasn’t immediately clear to him. A tiny woman was by his side, with nutbrown skin and white hair - unusual to see a human that old. She was nodding approvingly to whatever Alan was telling her.

Ehme faltered for a moment, then turned around to Galen with a strange glint in her eyes. „That human belongs to you?“

„He does,“ Galen said and raised a brow at her. „His name is Tamas; you may talk to him after you've brought me to your healer.“

„There she is, master,“ Ehme said eagerly, „talking to Tamas. You’ll talk to her, and I’ll talk to him.“ She strode off, much quicker than before. Galen followed her, biting back a grin. It would be interesting to see how Alan would handle this situation, since all escape routes were closed.

And if he didn’t escape, it would probably be a healthy distraction.

He had expected to have to put on his most soothing, reassuring voice and smile, but the healer was refreshingly bold, and not at all intimidated by his title or the fact that he was an ape. She was eager to inform him about all the herbs she had been using, and Galen was surprised by her choices - willow bark and yarrow and goldenseal.

They were... sensible. They also should have had an effect on the fever. But when he asked the woman, she shook her head.

„They all die,“ she said. „They get the fever on the first day, they lie on their beds and don’t know their own mothers on the second day, and on the third day, whoosh,“ she made a fluttering motion with her hands. „Spirit is gone.“

She was talking of the life force, Galen assumed; it was common knowledge that humans didn’t have souls.

How unfortunate that he didn’t believe in simian common knowledge anymore. Though for the sake of his own conscience, he might have to hold fast to some of it...

If the old woman also used any of the hexes and talismans that humans were so fond of, she was wise enough not to make any mention of them towards the ape. Their use was strictly forbidden by the prefects, and punished severely, though Galen had never understood the fervor behind that persecution.

He ordered the healer to help bring in the sick to this place of healing, and to make sure that everyone heeded the instructions of Tamas and Polo, and went to see how Alan was doing.

The human was leaning heavily on his crutch, his face tense and pale; when he saw him, Alan sent him a tired smile. „We’re making good progress,“ he greeted Galen. „I think by nightfall we’ll have set up everything, and collected everyone who’s showing symptoms.“

Galen nodded, surveying the controlled chaos around them; the first patients were being led to their beds by their healthy relatives, while in other parts of the barn, women were still busy taking out the straw and hanging up cloth dividers. „I spoke to the healer,“ he said. „She’s already using all the fever-breaking herbs known to us. So far, they haven’t had any effect. I don’t know if this,“ his hand caught the villagers’ efforts in one sweep, „will be enough to make a difference.“

Alan rubbed his chin. „Every little thing helps,“ he said. „It’s the sum of all our measures that will make a difference. Did you determine the progression of the illness? Any striking symptoms that could give you a clue?“

„I haven’t had the time to examine any of them yet,“ Galen said sharply, „they’re only now being brought in.“

„Has there ever been an outbreak like this before?“ Alan asked, unimpressed by his irritation. „Perhaps there’s a precedent that can tell us how they treated it then.“

„There was indeed an outbreak of an aggressive fever some years ago, in Touba, one of the southern districts,“ Galen said dryly, „but I don’t think you’d want to apply the district chief’s medicine here, Alan. They shot the humans and burned the bodies, burned their huts and belongings, and cordoned off the area for a whole year.“

The human was silent for a moment, and Galen regretted his bluntness. „No,“ Alan murmured, „of course not. I’m assuming it’s not contagious for apes, then.“

„We don’t know,“ Galen admitted. „I guess that’s why they didn’t take any chances back then.“ He watched the rows filling up with humans. About thirty, he estimated; half the village. „These humans are lucky that the prefect needs them urgently for the harvest. That gives us a chance to find a cure for them, and maybe others in the future.“ He took Alan by the arm and led him towards the sectioned-off space in the back.

Alan had already outfitted that space with a wooden table that had served some farmer’s meals before, but was now meant to be his examination table, another, smaller table with a chair, and some wooden crates filled with bandages, pots and bowls for making tea and ointments. Galen nodded appreciatively. „I see you’ve put some thought into this, Alan. Well done.“

He sent the human to get his doctor bag from the wagon and to bring back the first patient with him; they quickly fell into a routine of Alan leading the patients into the examination area, jotting down the symptoms in his own, thread-like script, and leading them back to their cots, while Galen did a quick examination, questioned them about the history of their symptoms, and sorted them into one of three categories of severity.

After a short while, the young woman who had taken an interest in Alan earlier offered to get the patients for him, and Alan seemed to be relieved to agree. He sat down heavily into the reedy chair and reached for the quill. „Ready for our next patient, doctor.“

Galen watched him for a moment. „How is your leg these days, Alan?“

Alan froze. „As good as you can expect,“ he finally said. „Doctor Kira was amazing, but she warned me that the nerve may have suffered permanent damage. I’d probably need physical therapy...“ He smiled wryly. „But it’s no use wishing for things you can’t have. I’ll do my best not to be a burden to you.“

„Oh, no. No. You are not a burden, Alan.“ Galen put down his stethoscope and rounded the table to pat his shoulder. „I must stay conscious of your leg so that I don’t overstrain you.“ He nodded towards the human’s scribblings. „What do we have so far?“

Alan took up his notes and frowned at them. „Not much, I’m afraid. All of them complain about burning up inside - meaning, they are feverish - and aching joints, headaches, dizziness... some also say they are nauseous, can’t keep anything down. You told me they have swollen glands and, uh,“ his eyes traveled down the paper, „two of them have developed a rash.“

He let the paper flutter down onto the desk and looked up to him, his blue eyes worried. „There are a number of infections that fit those symptoms, and the conditions we found here - _Malaria, West Nile, Dengue_... or maybe it’s something else entirely, something that doesn’t exist in my... where I come from.“

„Hm.“ Galen had never heard those names; he assumed they were from Alan’s own language. He wanted to consult with him about the herbs that the healer had unsuccessfully tried, but they would probably have the reverse problem, with Alan not knowing their names for them; and despite his unusual theories about the causes of the illness, he was no healer. Galen scratched his head; he’d have to find a solution of his own here.

„I need to consult my books,“ he said. „I’ll leave the humans here in your care and that of your assistant...“

„Ehme,“ Alan said in a dry voice that suggested he had already become aware of the woman’s personal interest in him. He didn’t seem to be overly stressed by her advances, though, so Galen decided to ignore the undertone.

He patted the human on the arm. „You and her seem to fit together quite well. I’m sure you’ll have everything here under control. Keep me advised if anything out of the ordinary happens.“

„I’ll call you at once when anyone deteriorates.“ Alan struggled to his feet.

Galen pursed his lips to fight the grim smile pulling at them. „That, I’m afraid, is nothing out of the ordinary in this village. But yes, do call me anyway.“ Not that he’d be able to do much about it, but he’d try. If he didn’t find a cure, Kanla would have no choice but to administer the Touban treatment.

And they were now also considered potential carriers.

* * *

The little girl grabbed for Zana’s hand as soon as her father had mounted his horse, and started to swing both their arms back and forth as they went towards the house. „I like your horses. But your humans didn’t let me pet them!“

Zana craned her neck to catch a last glimpse of the white cotton of the wagon cover. Galen hadn’t even waited for Peet to climb back into the wagon; the sight of him jogging after it clenched at her heart with both joy and something like homesickness. He had finally regained that swift, light run from before... before Urko had somehow taken all the lightness out of him. For a moment, Zana wanted nothing more than to run after him, after all of them. She already missed them terribly.

But Galen had been right, it was too dangerous. They couldn’t know if the illness would jump from human to ape, and she was no longer only responsible for her own life. It grated on her that it had been Galen who had pointed this out, as if she hadn’t thought of it herself. He was always so sensible when it served him.

Only she _had_ been willing to go to the village with him, because staying in town would have meant to reveal her secret, or to look like a coward.

She blinked away sudden tears. Well, she had been a coward. No matter how she looked at it.

„I _could’ve_ petted your horses!“ The girl - Forla, if Zana remembered right - frowned, still not through with the subject of petting their animals. „Humans can’t tell me _anything!“_

„But they just told you what we told them to say,“ Zana said absentmindedly. „If the horses had stepped on your toes, or bitten your hand, your parents would’ve been very angry with us.“

„I _know_ horses!“ Forla said dismissively. „I pet Daddy’s horse every day. Can I pet your humans when they come back? I wanted to when you were waiting for the doctor, but the dark one said he’d bite me!“ She looked up at Zana with wide eyes. „You don’t allow them _that,_ do you?“

„No,“ Zana reassured her. She exchanged an amused glance with the girl’s mother, Inta, who had been waiting under the door and was now leading them inside. „But you can’t pet him, either, if he tells you he doesn’t want you to.“

„Why not?“ The frown was back on Forla’s face; she was clearly struggling with the new concept of a human having any say over its body. Zana flicked a glance at Inta, found the same blank stare over her friendly smile, and decided that now was not the time to educate her fellow apes about animal rights.

„He has been treated very badly by...“ the Chief General of the Dominion’s police force? Then Peet had to have earned it, certainly; in fact, bad treatment by any ape was probably well deserved, if one went by conventional simian wisdom. Zana suppressed a sigh.

“... by his former owner,“ she finally said. „And he’s a bit hand shy. But he’s a good human,“ she added hastily, „and he wouldn’t bite anyone.“

Just cut their throat, if Galen sent him... But Galen hadn’t told him to kill an ape! And she’d stop thinking about that now. Zana resolutely focused on the smooth wood of the climbs as she grabbed them to swing herself into the upper level after the Chimp.

„This is our guest room,“ Inta said with a little apologetic smile. „It’s not big, I hope you don’t mind...“

„No, not at all,“ Zana assured her. The room was indeed tiny, no more than a holding space for a bed and a nightstand; her crate stood at the foot of the bed. Tilan had grabbed it with one foot and hauled it up over the climbs before he had left. The poorer ape houses typically had no need for human-friendly stairs, and humans just weren’t equipped to use the wooden handles, although Peet had sworn that he would’ve been able to pull himself up - just not with a crate on his back. For a moment, he had been his old self... until he had felt Tilan in his back.

Zana forced a smile on her face. „It’s lovely. And I won’t impose on you very long. Just a few days...“

A few days with nobody to talk to. Well, nobody she wanted to talk to; the one person she desperately wanted to talk to had left without looking back.

Zana sat down heavily on the bed. She felt tired, and hot, and her feet were aching. Inta had put a jug with lemonade on the nightstand, and she poured herself a mug and drank it down in one draw. It wasn’t really cold, not even cool, but it was liquid, and she was parched. Inta had also been kind enough to take her daughter with her to the ground level, which meant that for the first time since that terrible moment in the wagon, Zana could catch her breath and _think._

Her thoughts invariably looped back to that moment, to the things she had said, and the things he had said, and to all the things she _hadn’t_ said, because she had been too shocked and horrified and ashamed to think of them.

And to all the things _he_ hadn’t said, but that she had seen in his eyes, in the tension of his shoulders, in the way he refused to look at her afterwards. Perhaps Galen was too busy right now to go over that memory again, and again, and again, as she was doing right now. Perhaps it was just festering in the shadows beneath the bustle, slowly wandering upwards like hot wax being sucked into a candle wick, until it saturated his thoughts and feelings and the memory of her with its poison. Perhaps it would billow up in the moments before he fell asleep, tinting his dreams with bitterness and grief.

She had betrayed his trust. Alan had been right. Humans really were creatures of instinct, closer to the tides of nature, and in this case, she should’ve heeded the human’s finer intuition. Zana sighed again and poured herself a second mug of lemonade. Whatever Galen had decided, she wasn’t a meek wife who’d sit with folded hands in her lap to wait until the master of the house had calmed down again. What was she, a Gorilla?

She emptied the mug in one draw.

No. She and Galen... they needed to talk. They needed to talk as soon as possible; the more time she let pass, the more impossible it would become to find a way back to... to how things had been before. When they had...

... when he had kept the forbidden book secret from her. Zana sat up straight. _He_ had kept secrets from her, _too!_ Granted, a book wasn’t a living being, but, but, its possession had altered his life irrevocably, and it could still kill him! Talk about risks!

She jumped up from the bed and stepped to the window; the sun was already low in the sky, but it would still be some hours until it vanished below the horizon. Zana grabbed the windowsill. She knew where the village was, Forla had been all too eager to tell them about it on their way from the prefecturate to Tilan’s house.

She wouldn’t bring up the book, no. But she wouldn’t cower before him, either. They’d have a talk, a calm talk between mature adults, eye to eye. And she’d ask him if he had really wanted her, back then. Or if he had only wanted the humans under her supervision.

There would be no more secrets.

* * *

The sky was just as brilliant as it had been above Kira’s clinic: a translucent indigo, brushes of azure clouds, the white glitter of stars sprinkled in between. It seemed to Burke that he could dip his hands into the Milky Way if he stretched just a little more.

But the landscape around him couldn’t compare to the barren, but clean and, most importantly, _dry_ backyard where he had gazed at the stars with Arna. For one thing, the stench of stagnant water and sodden soil was still as strong as it had been when they’d arrived. For another, the light of the full moon was bright enough to see the decrepit huts and cart tracks where their wagon had dug through the mud. It was bright enough that he threw a long, black shadow as he climbed out of the wagon to get to the feed box at the rear.

It was almost midnight; Galen was sleeping on a cot in his cordoned-off doctor’s office, Al had the night shift together with the old village healer, and Burke had been tasked with guarding the wagon - well, to be fair, Galen had sent him to sleep in the wagon, with the calculation that he’d wake up if someone tried to sneak in for some unannounced midnight shopping. He hadn’t expected him to stay up all night.

It had been a long, exhausting day for Pete Burke, what with the grave digging and ditch digging, and all that wrapped into old scraps to keep the mosquitos from injecting him with whatever bug was causing these people to drop left and right. And tomorrow wouldn’t be any different, except that Al had ordered the women to sew him and the other diggers protective clothing that would be better fitting and better ventilated. Burke had been the first to get the new outfit.

„Jesus, Al!“ He had stared at the hood with the eye slits. „We’ll look like a division of the goddamn KKK!“

In the end, he’d taken the hood, and the gloves, and stuffed them under his bedroll in the wagon. If he had to choose between being offensive to people who had been dead for centuries, or dropping dead from an infectious mosquito bite, hell, it wasn’t really a dilemma.

So, tomorrow, it would be the ditch. It wasn’t as if nobody knew how to dig one, or that they wouldn’t have preferred to drain that water away from their houses; but everyone was required to work their ass off for the apes, and after a day in the fields, you just didn’t have the energy anymore to start another round of heavy physical work. The cotton needed dry feet; the humans... nobody cared what the humans needed, as long as they stayed functional.

Good thing they were here now, huh? He allowed himself a sardonic little smile as he paused at the box, hands resting on the lid. Now that everybody was too sick to work, the apes had carted in some fresh human meat to take care of that long overdue drainage for their... their herd. Burke felt his throat constrict with anger; yeah, he really should try to get some sleep, to prepare for another day of grueling work. That wet soil was _heavy._

But the truth was that he was getting by with very little sleep lately. When exhaustion finally knocked him out, it didn’t take long for him to jerk awake again, jumping off whichever horror train he’d boarded that night.

In most of them, Urko was the conductor.

So, if he was awake anyway, and alone and unsupervised, for a change, he could as well make use of the opportunity. With a last glance over his shoulder, Burke dug into the horses’ oats and pulled out an elongated bundle. It was risky to hide it under the horse food, as it was Al who mostly cared for the animals, but Burke hadn’t known where else to put it, and he had been in a hurry at the time.

He still didn’t know where else to hide the thing; inside the wagon was out of the question, and underneath the wagon bed there was nothing to fasten it with at the wood. Besides, the boxes were tarred to protect the contents from moisture.

And since he didn’t have any gun oil, that was a not unimportant detail.

Actually, he didn’t have _any_ supplies for the rifle - no oil, no rags, no brush, no nothing. Well, he hadn’t exactly planned that acquisition. But when Galen had sent him into the marches to „take care of“ the sentry that Urko had placed there to watch the roads leading away from the clinic, he just couldn’t throw the weapon into the swamp, right?

He just couldn’t.

They’d need that weapon sooner or later, Burke could feel it in his gut. He had taken the rifle, and the ape’s ammo, and had buried both in the feed box, and hadn’t touched it at all during the four weeks of their journey. Hadn’t even thought of it, some days.

But now, with that ape guard escorting them into the village, and with that invisible fence enclosing them, his fingers were itching to touch it. To feel the cool metal in his hand, the warm wood of the stock, the weight... the weight. It was solid, soothing. A breech loader, thank god - he’d have thrown a musket into the next ditch, firepower or not.

The way it looked now in the moonlight, the apes had raided a war museum and reverse engineered a Spencer rifle. Or carbine, judging by the size. He allowed himself a snort. „Monkey see, monkey do...“ When he turned it around, his fingers hitched on some sort of bolt on the underside of the barrel. After a bit of fumbling, it suddenly unlocked and slid forward. A blade came gliding out of the wood enclosing the barrel. Burke held it up to his eyes to have a closer look. „Sweet,“ he breathed.

The thing came with a bayonet.

The blade was clean - either the weapon had been well-cared for, or it had never been used. Burke wondered for a moment what the patrols really needed those weapons for; as far as he had seen, they didn’t shoot more than bushcats and rabbits.

And the occasional human.

„Not you, sweetheart,“ he murmured, and inspected the magazine. „You’re not going to kill a human again. Just apes. Only apes. I should really give you a name, like they did in the good old days.“ He felt silly, but in a good way. Giddy. „How about... Lucy? Betsy?“

A movement at the edge of his vision caught his attention, a shadow hurrying among the deeper shadows of the huts, and he hastily hid the gun in the footwell, adrenaline roaring in his blood.

Then the shadow stepped into the snowy beam of the moon.

_„Zana?“_

* * *

Their makeshift hospital ward gave Virdon an uncanny sense of dejá vu - the rustling of cloth as people shifted in their beds, the soft moans and mutterings of those trapped in fevered dreams... but most of all, that sickly smell that seemed to solidify the hot, stuffy air even more, clogging his nose and pulling the strength from his shoulders, his legs.

It all transported him back to those days in Travin’s room, when he had lain on the man’s straw mattress, dying; and Virdon found himself startled into a dreamlike panic again and again now, when everything suddenly seemed to tilt and the absolute certainty slammed into him that he had gotten it all wrong, and that it should be him lying on that cot, drifting away. It had happened so often this night that he was already dreading the next assault.

_I’m just tired out._

Galen would take over from him after midnight. Virdon glanced at the candle burning down in the tin holder, but it still hadn’t burned down beneath the second marking in the plate. The apes didn’t measure time by the hour, dividing their day instead into twenty units from dawn to dusk, and five units through the night, whose length varied depending on the season. At the height of summer, the night units were blessedly short, although to his exhausted mind, they seemed to stretch into infinity.

He forced himself to focus on the faded blue gown of the village healer instead, who was still wandering from bed to bed, with the same grace and patience as she had when she had first joined him that afternoon. She bent down and put her hand on the sweat-drenched brow of a little boy. Virdon leaned closer to catch what she was saying.

“... fever leave the brow, to the seeds I sow...“ She was brushing a little cloth bag over the child’s face, he realized. „Ninety-nine fevers can’t touch you now, until you come and cut the row.“ She kissed the pouch. „In the name of the redeemer and the mothers.“

His heart was pounding against his ribs as if he had fallen back into the wound fever himself; when the old woman turned around, he was still too stunned to avert his eyes and pretend to be busy with something else. He just stared at her, unable to move.

She just smiled serenely at him and moved to the next cot, tucking away the little bag in the right pouch of her skirt, and pulling out another one from the left pouch.

Virdon trailed after her as she went from bed to bed, repeating her little ritual for each man, woman and child. Every time she concluded her rhyme with the invocation of those supernatural beings, he was at the brink of asking her; but there was a silence around her, a devoutness, that choked the words in his throat.

„I don’t feel it will help this time,“ someone whispered behind him. Startled, he turned around.

It was Ehme, his self-appointed assistant. She nodded towards the healer. „The Mothers frown at us. They don’t listen to her prayers anymore.“

„What are you doing here at this time of the night?“ he whispered back; he had sent her home hours ago.

Ehme smiled and tiptoed over to him. She smelled of woodsmoke and mint, a well of green and cool scents in this fever-flecked darkness that drew him closer without realizing it. Suddenly he was close enough to feel her breath at his throat. „I couldn’t sleep, and I was thinking of you... not sleeping, either. So I thought, if we’re both awake anyway...“

Her eyes were dark and wide as she smiled up to him, and Virdon felt his breath hitch. His heart was beating against his ribs, slow and hard. „I came to help you,“ Ehme whispered. „So many are ill, and you’ve been on your feet ever since you came here. You should rest your leg a bit.“

She took his hand and led him down the aisle between the beds, and he followed her like a tamed beast, and when she had sat him down on a vacant cot, he hung on to her hand and drew her back towards him as she turned to leave.

„You don’t have to do this,“ he said, „it’s no use that all of us are up at the same time. It only means that we’ll pass out from exhaustion all at the same time, too, and who’ll care for the patients then?“

She put her other hand on his shoulder. „I can stay up for a long time, Tamas, don’t you worry.“

He just shook his head, and she sighed and sat down beside him on the cot, close enough that their legs were touching. She still hadn’t let go of his hand, but he didn’t mind that.

„Alright, I’ll bow to your greater wisdom.“ She smiled into her lap. „Tell me what I should keep in mind tomorrow, when you’re getting your well-deserved sleep.“

Virdon drew a deep breath. There was just so much to think of... things that were so self-evident to him that he was in danger of not mentioning them. These people relied on magic even more than on herbalism...

So he began with the mosquitos, and how they were carrying even smaller beasts, and how those tiny beasts were the true bringers of the illness. He let her repeat all measures to shield herself and her patients from those pests, went over the requirements of basic hygiene, like boiling the water used for cleaning and for drinking, and burning soiled straw and sheets...

„You know so much about these things,“ Ehme said thoughtfully. „Did your master teach them to you? Why would he do that? Humans aren’t meant to be doctors.“

The air was hot and stale, and reeking of sickness and ignorance, and the ruins of Atlanta flashed before Virdon’s inner eye. His fingers tightened around Ehme’s hand. „Humans are meant to be doctors, Ehme,“ he said hoarsely, „and teachers, and builders, and inventors of wonderful things. I wish you could see how it had been once.“

„Once?“ Ehme studied his face. „What do you mean?“

Virdon squeezed his eyes shut. He had slipped. It was just because he was so overtired. On the other side of his eyelids, Ehme was still looking at him, waiting. He could feel it. Virdon inhaled and opened his eyes again.

„Once... when I was still back home,“ he fibbed. „I’m not... I’m not from these parts.“

„Everywhere is like here,“ Ehme said flatly. „Humans are meant to serve, from here to the western mountains and everywhere in between.“

„I’m from still somewhere else. I... we... my friend and I, we come from another world.“

There. He had said it. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was closer than anything he’d ever told anyone with the exception of Galen and Zana. A tremor shuddered down his core, a thrill of fear and exhilaration and relief. He’d told someone. He’d told her.

Ehme was staring at him. „Another world... from the stars? You came down from the stars, like the redeemer?“

„No...no! Not like... like him.“ He couldn’t know if these people meant the same Redeemer that he sent his prayers to, if some faint, warped memory had survived the eons since mankind’s downfall, but just in case that they did, he didn’t want to give them any ideas. „We were traveling in a machine, like a boat...“

„And you traveled down the river of stars,“ Ehme finished for him, wide-eyed. „But why did you land here? And are you going back again?“ She was leaning into his side now, her breath caressing him as gently as the warmth of her body.

„I hope so,“ he murmured, dejected. „Our ship was damaged when it came down-“

„Tamas.“

They both startled, jerking apart like children caught with their hands in a jar of sweets. Ehme bowed hastily and fled, and Virdon found himself pinned by Galen’s glare.

„I know I’ve complained about the regrettable lack of trust among our group,“ Galen said dryly, „so I’m touched that you trust this woman with your life. But may I remind you that as long as we’re travelling together, anything that gives us away as special endangers all of us? So, please, don’t trust her with _my_ life, too.“

„I’m sorry,“ Virdon murmured, chastised. „I shouldn’t have told her. I... I can't explain it, other than I was tired and not thinking straight and she’s...“

Before Galen could say anything, a shadow stirred in the deeper darkness behind him.

„Yeah, Al has a habit of spilling the beans to friendly females, ain’t that right, Al?“

* * *

The road lay abandoned now, a shockingly bright band winding through the marches in the milky light of the full moon; as Zana hurried towards the village, the noisy silence of frogs and other, more furtive noises in the reeds made her almost wish for an officer to find her. The rustling and soft splashes were caused by swamp rats, she told herself; and there was nothing more sinister hiding in the shadows under the willow trees than sleeping birds and, and, dreaming beavers.

But the truth was that she was completely unnerved by now. And to think that she had pondered to find a way through the swamp itself, and stay away from the road for fear of detection! She would’ve completely lost her way by now, and maybe fallen into a water hole, or... did they have alligators this far north? Zana stopped and nervously scanned the pale road ahead and behind her; these beasts weren’t confined to the water, even if they preferred it.

She continued more slowly now, casting nervous glances over her shoulder every few moments. The cold light and the utter loneliness in this wilderness made her fur stand on end. All the ghost stories of her childhood rose up from the moving shadows to the side of the road, all the nameless terrors that had haunted her dreams after these evenings of storytelling. When she spotted a lonely light far ahead, she almost choked with terror before she remembered that it was probably just a lantern hanging from the gate to the village she had been seeking, and not a ghost light that sought to lure her into the fathomless darkness of the swamp.

Still, her breath only eased when it turned out that it was indeed the lantern hanging over the gate of the village. The gate wasn’t guarded, and not even locked; no ape dared to come near enough to enforce the usual lock-in at nightfall now. She hesitantly passed through the shadow of the gate and sighed when she discovered the hulk of their wagon cowering against a barn, fully illuminated by the moon. She took a cautious step towards it, her feet sinking into soft mud. Galen would be asleep in the wagon - how was she going to wake him without giving him the scare of a-

_„Zana?“_

_„Mothers!“_ She startled so violently at the sound of that voice that a muscle cramped up deep in her chest. She inhaled, trying to stretch it out again, but it persisted, a tight spot under her ribs that made it difficult to breathe. „Must you scare me so?“

Peet jumped lightly out of the wagon. „Scare you? I just thought I’d caught the fever an’ was hallucinating the sight of you! Whatcha doin’ here?“ In the bright moonlight, she could see him frown. „Jus’ for your information, the sick people of this hovel are still sick... an’ infectious.“

Zana held up a hand to stop the rant she felt coming her way. „No discussions now, Peet - I’m here and I need to see Ga... the doctor. Urgently.“

Peet stared at her for a moment; then he shrugged. „He’s in there.“ He gestured at the barn behind him. „We’ve turned it into a hospital, he has a separate office, an’-“

„He’s sleeping in there? Among all those sick humans?“ Zana was shocked. Then she narrowed her eyes. „He seems to be pretty sure that it’s not contagious for apes, then.“

Peet wisely said nothing to that, just turned to lead the way. „It’s Polo now, by the way,“ he murmured as they passed rows of tossing and turning humans. „Hate that name, but it’s how they know me around here. There you go.“ He gestured at a heavy curtain dividing off the far corner of the room. The flicker of candlelight was seeping through the gap between curtain and floor.

She turned around for Peet, but the human held up his hands and smiled wryly. It was clear that he didn’t intend to go in with her. Zana sniffed. Well. It wasn’t his business, anyway, was it?

She squared her shoulders and brushed away the fabric with a bit more force than necessary.

He was sitting on the thin pallet they had brought in for him from somewhere, his nose stuck in a scroll that he held close to the single candle on the desk beside the bed - one of the medical scrolls he had bought back in the City. „What is it, Al-, ah, Tamas?“ he murmured, not lifting his gaze.

There was just no way she could gently introduce herself. „We need to talk.“

The scroll jumped from his fingers and tumbled to the floor, and he almost tumbled after it, trying to catch it by reflex. He stopped his fall in the last moment, grabbing the bedframe, and stared up at her, mouth slack with shock.

She quickly stepped into the room before he could recover and sat down on the only chair. „Please spare us another lecture of the dangers of human illnesses for apes, I just heard that one from Peet... Polo. I’m here now, we can as well get to the point.“

Galen pushed himself back into a sitting position and frowned. „The point? What point? Are you going to tell me that there was a point to your secrecy... were you _protecting_ me from the harsh truth, or a difficult decision?“

She winced at the bitterness in his voice. „No, Galen. I’d never be so condescending to assume I’d need to protect you from anything. I wanted to protect myself.“

He was still staring at her, his fingers playing with the rope that was dangling from the spine of the scroll. „Protect yourself.“ His voice was flat. „From me.“

„I breached the subject once, if you remember.“ She knew she should reassure him immediately that she hadn’t meant to protect herself from _him,_ as if he was dangerous to her or to the baby, but his cold disapproval fueled her own resentment. She wouldn’t be judged, dammit! „In Urko’s office, and you were already so sure of your own opinion, as if there was only one correct decision-“

„It was a hypothetical situation to me, one that was still preventable,“ Galen exploded. „I had _no_ _idea_ that you were interviewing me about an already existing fact!“

„As if that knowledge would’ve changed anything!“ Zana jumped to her feet. „Do you really want to tell me that you _wouldn’t_ have insisted on getting rid of it, or on dragging me back to your parents who so generously offered to take me in all of a sudden? Even your father, who we both agree hates my sight...“

„It was a very generous offer, yes!“ Galen blinked. „Did _they_ know?“

Zana hesitated, and wished she hadn’t when his eyes narrowed in sardonic amusement. „I really am the fool who knows last.“

„I didn’t tell them,“ she said pleadingly. „Your mother just... looked at me and knew, and I assume she told your father, but you have to believe me, I didn’t tell anyone.“

„But it seems I was the only one you were able to fool by it,“ Galen stated dryly.

Zana sank back on her chair. „I think Peet didn’t know, either,“ she murmured, plucking at a loose thread in her robe. She looked up when she heard Galen cough.

„Well, I’m glad.“ His voice was still vibrating with a sharp, metallic undertone. Hurt, masked as anger, masked as amusement. „Idiocy loves company.“

She felt nauseous with grief. „You’re not an idiot, Galen, except when you indulge in self-pity and believe the hurtful things you’re imputing to me right now. I thought you knew me better.“

„Well, that’s what I thought, too.“

Stunned, she watched him roll up his scroll. Perhaps it hadn’t been a good idea to come here. She had been so worried that time would only harden his resentment, but maybe she had misjudged him... again. Maybe he would’ve needed a few days alone, to cool off.

„That’s no way to go on, Galen,“ she said softly. „I’m sorry I hurt you. I should’ve trusted you more, and not have let fear dictate my actions, but I can’t change what’s in the past - you can’t pour water back into a broken bottle. But please, Galen, stop stomping on the shards to punish me. And it’s not as if you never kept secrets yourself.“

„Oh, oh no!“ Galen pointed the scroll at her. „You don’t get to play the ‘you, too!’ game with me!“

Resentment shot up again with a hiss inside her. „And you don’t get to play the persecuted saint,“ she retorted. „You’re not above reproach, Galen! You can be sensible, even virtuous when it serves you, but you have no compunction about holding back, sweet talking, or even lying, if you think you’d get farther with it than with moral rectitude. I said I’d never be condescending to you, so please, for the love of the Mothers, don’t be condescending to me!“

She saw his eyes narrow. „Are you calling me a hypocrite?“

And she wouldn’t take that bait. „I’m calling you a pragmatist. And... if you can’t find the inner greatness to forgive me my mistake...“ She sighed. „I’m only simian, Galen. I’m not infallible, or above fear, or grief, or... But if you can’t love me anymore, at least be pragmatic enough to let go of your grudge, for the sake of our safety.“ For the sake of the baby, but how could she invoke that after having shut him out of that so completely?

„I still love you,“ Galen said quietly. „I fell in love with you when you stood up to Urko during the hearing, and I admired your courage from the moment I saw you in Zibaya’s student rally...“

„I just got caught up in it,“ Zana said hastily, „I wasn’t even attending her speech...“

“... and I somehow assumed that you aren’t afraid of anything, least of all of me,“ Galen continued, ignoring her. „And even if it hadn’t been about the baby... our baby, _my_ baby, too!“ He took a deep breath. „Even if it had been about something else, anything else, it would still have disappointed me that you wouldn’t trust me enough to share.“ All his usual playfulness, the twinkling irony, had left his voice. He just sounded... sad.

Zana didn’t know what to say... didn’t even remember what she had feared from him - that he’d disapprove? That he’d ask her to get rid of the baby? Both possibilities seemed to be so unreal right now, looking at him hunched on the pallet. She just had to get up and sit on the bed beside him.

„I’m sorry,“ she repeated, „and I won’t do it again. And I want to help you with this here,“ she waved her arm, indicating the whole barn. „You can’t possibly manage it all alone, or even with Alan and Peet, there is just too much to do.“

Galen shook his head. „You need to go back to Tilan. It would be different if you’d want to take that risk just for yourself, but we have to think of our baby now.“ An unconscious smile tugged at his lips as he said ‘our baby’, and Zana’s heart constricted in a new wave of guilt and affection.

„There must be some way I can help you,“ she insisted.

„Well...“ Galen’s gaze fell on the scroll in his hands. „You could read those scrolls for me. My eyes are falling shut, and I reread the last herb five times, and I still can’t tell you which one it was or what it’s used for.“ He handed her the scroll and rose to gather half a dozen more. „I’ll give you a bag for these... And these are the symptoms I determined from my examinations.“ He dumped the scrolls onto the bed and handed her a smaller one; when she partly unrolled it, Galen’s exact, clean handwriting appeared.

He knelt down to retrieve a cloth bag from under the bed - a horse’s feedbag, and held it up for her. „I also added ‘Causes and Cures’ to that collection,“ he said, while Zana put the scrolls into the bag. „I know it’s actually for apes, but it can’t hurt to look for a treatment there, too. You know, we’re not that different, physically.“

„No,“ Zana said softly, „we’re not that different.“

She didn’t want to leave - when she thought of that white road winding through the chirping shadows of the swamp, she could feel every hair on her body rise. On the other hand, it was probably better to not arouse the attention of the prefect. Galen’s cover identity had given them a whole month of relative peace, and a good headway due north, and she didn’t want to endanger that.

Still... that road...

„Will you bring me to the gate, dea... Galen?“

Galen jumped to his feet. „Yes, yes of course. Do you want me to send Peet with you, at least up to the plague line?“

Zana’s shoulders sagged with relief. „That would be... would be nice, dear.“

Galen raised his brows. „I assume he’s nearby. The curtains have even bigger ears than common walls.“ He held the fabric aside to let her through, but to Zana’s secret satisfaction, Peet was nowhere to be seen.

They were almost at the door, when Galen suddenly stopped and tensed. Curious, Zana followed his gaze.

Galen was watching Alan, who sat on an unoccupied bed, a young woman beside him. From their closeness, and the way they were smiling at each other, she seemed to have roused his interest - for the first time since Zana had met him. Curious, she drew closer. Alan had a family back home; if that woman had managed to turn his thoughts away from them even for a moment, she had to be very unusual.

Galen had already reached them, and Zana felt a stab of regret on Alan’s behalf when the female bolted. Galen shouldn’t have interfered... But then she saw Alan cast down his eyes as if he was ashamed, and then Peet was there, too, and suddenly, Alan looked surrounded, and she had to know what was going on here.

She quickened her step.

„Let’s talk about critical information you leaked, _Colonel,“_ she heard Peet say. „To everyone with a double x.“

He looked up when she stopped at Galen’s side, and she froze at the cold look in Peet's eyes.

„Let’s start with Zana.“


	3. Chapter 3

For a moment, Virdon could only stare at Burke, stunned by the surreality of his friend’s sudden appearance - _wasn’t he sleeping outside? -_ and the fury burning in his eyes. And Zana? _Zana?_

Had he slipped into a dream, too exhausted to notice? Ehme had sat him down on a pallet, but he couldn’t remember falling asleep...

Then his injury flared up, stabbing him in the hip and running down his leg like liquid fire, and for the first time, Virdon was grateful for the pain, for the measure of reality it provided.

He flicked a glance at Zana, but she looked as confused as he felt. Galen... Galen’s eyes were inscrutable. Virdon returned his attention to Burke. „I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.“

„Let’s go outside,“ Galen said, before Burke could draw a breath. „Too many ears are eager to catch a bit of our conversation here.“

They filed out in tense silence; he felt Zana’s hand at his arm for a moment, a quick squeeze, assuring him that she was on his side, even if neither of them knew what had thrown him into disgrace in Pete’s eyes.

Well, he’d find out soon enough, wouldn’t he.

The moon was headed towards the western horizon, throwing long shadows across the square. In unspoken agreement, they sheltered in the shadow of their wagon, indistinct silhouettes in its darkness. If they kept their voices low, nobody would notice them.

Virdon decided to secure the initiative. „So what’s this all about, Pete? You’ve got something on your mind about Zana?“

„No, buddy, I’ve got something on my mind about _you.“_ Pete’s face was an pale blur in the darkness, but his voice was a growl, low and dark. „You remember our little holiday in monkeytown? I got some interesting postcards when I was doin’ time with Vanda.“ He stepped closer, so close that Virdon could now see his eyes, dark patches in a white face.

„An’ then, when we were in that monastery, you asked me if I’d given them any names! _You_ asked _me!“_ His voice broke at the last word. He abruptly turned away.

Virdon blinked. „We had to know... I told you there was no blame-“

And then Burke was in his face so quickly that Virdon took an involuntary step back. „How fucking _kind_ of you!“ Burke snapped. „As if _you_ had a right to blame me for fucking _anything! I fought!_ You... you just _told_ her _,“_ he pointed at Zana, „everything she wanted to know, ’cause we needed to trade information, right, Al? That’s what you told me on our first day in Alcatraz!“

„I didn’t tell Zana anything critical, Pete.“ Virdon could feel nervous energy crackle around Burke like lighting, flickering rapidly, erratically, making his limbs tremble and his breath hitch; any moment now, he’d explode... either attacking him with fists or with words he’d regret afterwards.

He had to stop this before it spiraled completely out of control. „Pete, please... you have to believe me. I swear to God, I didn’t tell her anything I’m not allowed to tell.“

„It’s true,“ Zana’s voice cut in. „It was so frustrating - like trying to fight with a bowl of jelly. I felt so incompetent.“

Everyone fell silent for a moment. Despite everything, Virdon had to bite back a smile. „You were very tenacious, very... skilled,“ he told her. „But I’m under orders, and,“ he returned his gaze to Burke, „I obeyed them, Major. I did. What did Vanda tell you?“

The silence stretched as Burke stared at him, fists flexing, fighting whatever demons were besetting his soul. Virdon saw him moisten his lips. „She knew about my parents... personal stuff that I hadn’t told Zana, only you... she knew all about project _Icarus,_ hell, she knew _Hasslein’s name!_ She knew the year of the launch-“ He stopped, blinked.

Virdon waited.

„She knew the year,“ Burke repeated slowly. „told me she knew we left Earth in 2074.“ He stopped again, and with a sinking feeling in his stomach, Virdon saw him put the pieces together. He was aware of Galen and Zana watching and listening, too, silent and alert.

„She didn’t say, ’2074 by your calendar,’ or something,“ Burke breathed. „Just the year, as if she knew...“

„As if she knew how long ago _that_ was,“ Galen’s calm voice finished for him. „Tell me, Peet, how long ago was it, really?“

For the second time that night, shock slammed into Virdon’s gut, knocking the breath out of him. From the shadows, he heard Zana’s soft gasp. He and Burke simultaneously turned towards Galen, who just slightly cocked his head.

„You knew?“ Burke’s voice was rough. „How? How long?“

„I suspected it when you told me you saw a human book about surgery in Zaius’ study.“ Galen’s voice was laced with grim amusement. „My suspicion was confirmed when you read that book to Kira. How else would you be able to not only read that script, but also to translate what was written, if it wasn’t _your_ script, and _your_ language?“

Burke swore under his breath; Virdon shook his head. So Galen had known... and Burke had, too. Ever since they had raided Zaius’ study, after Zana had broken them out of the institute. „You didn’t tell _me,_ then,“ he said, too numb to feel more than faint surprise. „Why didn’t you tell me, Pete?“

He saw Burke’s shoulders sag a bit, losing some of that shivering tension. „You had just found that stupid disc,“ Burke murmured. „You were so damn happy, an’ I... well.“ He shrugged. „Thought I’d break it to you later. But we were kinda busy then, an’ it kept you going...“

„So you thought you’d let that carrot dangle in front of my nose, because you found it useful.“ Virdon’s skin was burning, all the way from his throat to his chest. „How considerate of you!“

„What in the white wastes are you talking about?“ Zana sounded thoroughly exasperated.

Virdon rubbed his face. _He_ was thoroughly exasperated, too.

„Our ship traveled through time, Zana, not just through the space between the stars,“ he said tiredly. „It was an accident - I told you the truth about that. We never meant to end up here.“

„They’re from the past,“ Galen added. „Our past.“

"The past..." Zana repeated slowly. She sounded dazed.

Then Virdon saw her shake her head, as if she wanted to chase away that revelation. Or maybe save it for later - that mythical 'later', when they would all be safe beyond the mountains, and would have time to process... everything.

„You knew,“ Zana said. She pointed at Virdon. „You knew. And you,“ she turned to point at Burke. „Why didn’t anyone tell _me?“_

„I didn’t tell anyone, not just you,“ Burke muttered. „You don’t seem overly surprised, either,“ he added towards Virdon. „When did you...?“

„When I was trapped underground with Urko,“ Virdon said slowly. „We landed in an old subway station. We found flyers...“

Burke whistled. „Holy _shit! Urko_ knows? How the hell did you survive that? And why the hell didn’t you say anything afterwards?“

„Surviving the quakes was a more immediate concern for him,“ Virdon said dryly. „And... well,“ he ducked his head. „I was worried you’d call me a fool and go off on your own if you knew.“

„I’m still calling you a fool, jus’ so you know,“ Burke said mildly. „But you’re one to talk about dangling carrots! You’re no better than I was.“

„So, to sum up,“ Galen interrupted; his voice was dry as dust. „You both learned the truth about your situation at different times, but chose not to tell each other so as to better manipulate the other, and also decided - also independently - not to tell either of us. Were you afraid we’d react like Urko did?“

Virdon found it better to ignore that question. „You didn’t say anything, either; what’s your excuse?“

„I don’t need an excuse,“ Galen said smugly. „It was your secret, so I was free to decide if I wanted to let you know that I found you out.“

„You could’ve told _me,“_ Zana muttered, then fell silent all of a sudden. Galen let his silence speak for himself.

For a while, nobody said anything. The silence grew awkward, filled with breathing and shuffling feet. Finally, Virdon cleared his throat.

„Seems we’re all guilty of the same crime here,“ he said. „And Galen was right, earlier - we’re enemies of the state, or,“ he smiled wryly, „a public safety hazard, and Urko and Zaius are mobilizing all their troops to find us - with such an overwhelming force against us, we can’t be a... a house divided. We can’t hide things like these from each other, and we shouldn’t. We’re stronger together.“

From Burke’s corner came slow clapping. „Nice speech, Colonel, you haven’t lost your touch. I promise to be good from now on.“

„I’ll be absolutely thrilled to see _that,“_ Galen muttered.

„But how did Vanda know all those things?“ Zana wondered. „She couldn’t have known them from me, _I_ didn’t know them!“

Burke stilled, at the same moment as Virdon, as realization hit both of them. „The ship...“

„The other shipwreck we found in the jungle,“ Virdon confirmed. „The one that crashed ten years before us...“

„They took the crew and interrogated them,“ Burke concluded. His voice was flat. „And then killed them. Like they planned for us.“

„And if Vanda knew about our mission...“ Virdon felt nauseous.

“... then ANSA did send a ship after us.“ Burke had retreated even farther back into the shadow of the wagon; now his face was completely hidden. „Didn’t matter if they went at a later time, with all that wormhole fuckery they could still have crashed earlier than us. God _damn_ , I don’t wanna know how many of our ships are littering this planet, and for how many centuries...“

„They wouldn’t have tried more than once,“ Virdon said absently. Who could they have sent? Who would have an interest in getting them home, against all probability, all common sense, all that _money_ that such a rescue mission would cost, and with a completely open outcome?

A heavy sense of foreboding settled over him. What if his insistence to find a way back had set the ball rolling in the first place? What if the way back was closed for them, with the technology that might have survived here over the centuries... closed for them, but not for a data stream?

He fingered the disc that he wore like a pendant around his neck. He had been determined to send its information back to ANSA somehow, no matter what. They had to know.

Had he lured the crew of that ship to their demise? Would he, in his future? Should he? But the ship had already crashed; if he reconsidered now, he had no idea what repercussions that could possibly have.

„Well, I’m not gonna join them,“ Burke interrupted his thoughts. „Damn monkeys won’t get me a second time.“ He had the same flat voice as before, the kind of cold determination that at any other time would’ve alarmed Virdon.

„If we can keep ourselves under control,“ Galen said with a meaningful undertone, „and stop hoarding secrets as if they’d earn us money, they won’t get any of us. We’ll make it across the northern mountains and lead a quiet life as unassuming citizens of the northern domain. That is our plan; does anyone have any objections?“

„Sounds good to me,“ Burke said with an almost audible shrug. Virdon said nothing.

„I suggest we break up this little council then, before one of the villagers notices something out of the ordinary,“ Galen concluded. „You go with Zana, up to the demarcation line, Peet, and Alan - go to bed. You look as if you’d fall on your face any moment.“

The dispersed with little fanfare; Virdon returned to the bed Ehme had chosen for him, and lay down, but sleep was far from his mind. He followed the myriad strands of pasts and futures, tangling and untangling causes and effects, until the gray light of morning sneaked through the doors and rubbed against his burning eyes.

He knew one person stubborn enough, patient enough, faithful enough, to come looking for him across the abyss of time.

And he prayed to God he was wrong.

* * *

„Are you sure that this ditch will help to chase the _gango_ away?“

Burke straightened and fumbled for the water flask that was tied to his belt. The protective gloves were nothing more than crude mittens that were tied fast around his wrists, which wasn’t a problem as long as he was holding nothing more delicate than the handle of a shovel; uncorking the flask was a different matter.

He took a deep draw and wished he could take off the hood to wipe the sweat from his face; but the constant high-pitched whirring all around them steadied his hands. He rubbed the hood against his face instead.

„I’ve no idea what a _gango_ is,“ he told Omi, a boy of maybe fourteen who had been following him like a faithful little dog ever since he had led his work gang into the waterlogged meadow on the other side of the stockade. „But it sure as hell will chase the mosquitos away. Damn little pests.“ He recorked his flask with some difficulty and took up the shovel again.

Omi followed his example and stabbed at the ground with renewed vigor. „We could use that meadow to graze the geese,“ he mused. „Or chicken. Or both. Or we could sow a bit of corn.“ Then his shoulders sagged. „Or the apes can use it for more cotton.“ He sighed and heaved another load of black, soggy soil on the barrow.

„Maybe the doc can talk to the prefect,“ Burke suggested after a long stretch of dejected silence. „Tell her it makes sense that you have enough to eat, so you’re strong enough to work in their fields.“

Omi nodded, but his posture indicated that he didn’t harbour much hope that Burke’s master would be able to talk sense into Kanla.

 _How did we become so... so defeated? We had the bomb! We could’ve nuked the damn monkeys back into their trees! What the hell_ happened _?_

He remembered the ruined city where Virdon had taken a quick dive into the basement. Atlanta, he had told them last night. They had been in Atlanta. He hadn’t recognized anything; if Al hadn’t told them, he’d never have guessed. He still didn’t know how much time had passed, but it was a miracle that anything had been left standing at all.

The apes had never had 21st century level technology, of that Burke was absolutely sure. But apes... or anyone, defeating humanity and taking over the whole planet with civil war era rifles and horses, was just absurd. Something else must’ve happened.

 _Guess someone found the red button, and then the monkeys just stepped in and took over._ Burke set his foot on the shovel’s blade and pushed it down with force. For a moment, he was tempted to tell Omi to just imagine there was an ape’s neck under his blade, but decided against it. No use giving the kid ideas that could get him killed.

Didn’t mean _he_ couldn’t indulge in that fantasy. Make it Urko’s neck, for example.

The sweat under his hood felt clammy all of a sudden, and he felt dizzy and nauseous. He wouldn’t die from malaria, he’d die from a heat stroke under the damn thing. But he was the foreman - he couldn’t just call in sick.

„Mother nature called,“ he said to Omi. „Be right back - just need to find a place where the skeeters won’t eat my dick.“ He rammed the shovel into the ground and gave the giggling youth a playful poke before he set off towards a little grove of poplars. The trees grew on what amounted to no more than a bump in the meadow, but the slight elevation meant that the spot was comparably dry. Burke hoped that it was dry enough to be unattractive to the mosquitos; he needed to take off that hood, if only for a minute.

Undergrowth was sparse under the trees, and he finally crouched down in a nest of willows that hadn’t made it past shrub level. It wasn’t perfect, but it had to do - not that he had any problems with the guys seeing him take a piss; but seeing him take a piss without the hood on would be awkward. He was meant to be their model.

He ripped the hood off with a sigh. The air wasn’t cool enough to dry his sweat, but it felt good not to wear a bag over his head... Burke blinked. Maybe that’s why he felt so choked the whole time. He thoughtfully turned the thing in his hands. Maybe it set off some memory of his time with... in prison. When they had put a bag over his head, and he had almost suffocated from the heat and the lack of air.

Yeah. That could be. But he had to wear the damn thing anyway, it was just sensible. Like he had told Al, they hadn’t thought of bringing their anti-malaria meds along for this trip. He rubbed the fabric over his face and neck and reluctantly put it on again. Time to get up and-

He froze in mid-move, then sank back on his haunches; his chest felt as if he’d swallowed a boulder and it got stuck right under his collarbones.

Through the wattling of branches he could see the patrol, reining in their horses now that they were on level with the humans, who had stopped digging. The apes' leader was leaning down a bit on his horse, talking to one of the hooded figures...

Burke felt his mouth water with a new bout of nausea. It wasn’t true, it couldn’t be true...

The ape was sitting on a white horse. He wore the tall helmet of a high ranking officer. And he was...

And his fur was black.

Urko.

A gigantic paw raked through Burke’s gut, leaving white trails of stabbing pain, twisting and tearing and _pushing-_

He still knew where he was, kneeling in the mud, gloved hands digging into the gnarled web of roots, but everything was dim and far away save for Urko waving his arm impatiently and the human flinching back and-

_The room with the rotating table and the tearing pain in his shoulders as they strapped him down, on his belly and the crack of splintering wood behind him and that gravelly voice taunting him._

_Maybe it’ll be the splintered end, Pete. Not that I’d care._

He frantically tried to push the memory away, out of his mind, tried to focus on something outside, the willow branches, the mosquitos, but nothing was striking enough to overpower the movie that was playing relentlessly, mercilessly, and he couldn’t get out, he couldn’t jump off, like a nightmare, he knew what was coming and he _couldn’t stop-_

The pain. How could a memory of pain hurt _right now,_ as if it was happening again, right at this moment? But it did, _it did,_ and all he could think of was that he couldn’t scream, he couldn’t make a sound, and so he just breathed into the mud, lips peeled back, in silent sobs, until it finally played itself out, until Urko was finally done.

He felt dizzy and fainting, and his arms were shaking when he pushed himself up to peek through the screen of willows to confirm for himself that he just had a freaky breakdown and had been hallucinating Urko coming to this god-forsaken place.

The patrol had turned their horses around and were leaving in a hurried trot, and the leader rode a white horse and it was a gorilla and it was Urko and how in hell could he be here? Here, of all places?

Burke ripped the hood off just in time before he violently threw up.

When it was over, he just stayed where he was, too exhausted to think. He felt...

Ashamed.

_I can’t keep breaking down like that. It’s like he cut off my balls, dammit._

He used the hood to wipe his face again. Then he struggled to his feet. The guys would need to keep digging without him for a while. He was positive that they could do it - digging a ditch wasn’t rocket science. But he had to warn Galen and Al. They all had to get the hell out of here.

And they had to get Zana before Urko did.

* * *

If she was ever getting out of Pendan alive, Zana silently vowed to herself as she swung herself from the window and began to climb down the front of Tilan’s house, she’d demand of Galen to change identities and become Orva, seller of crispy mixes, again. The worst they’d have to fear then would be to be sold out of Mango Miracles before noon - nobody would impress them to clean up their self-inflicted messes anymore! No more treating of sick humans that could’ve stayed healthy if they had simply been kept under species-appropriate conditions...

She ducked behind a low mural when she heard the slow clop of an officer’s horse - Elpo, Tilan’s colleague and best friend; he had been over for dinner yesterday. It would be an awkward situation if he noticed her now out on the streets of Trion, before sunrise. She waited until the hoofbeats had faded away before she dared to peek over the wall. In the gray light, nothing moved; everyone was asleep, with the exception of the officers of the town watch, and young women on their way to a conspiratorial meeting with their lovers.

Well, she hoped she was the only woman whom that description fit around here; it would be even more awkward to run into another sneaky female with a hidden agenda. How many rule breakers could this town bear with?

She tried hard not to think of Urko as she slipped out of the side gate, no more than a little door in the stockade; learning how to pick locks was such a useful skill that she had no idea how she had managed without it before. She had never thanked Peet for teaching her... it was high time that he got something in return for it. And he needed something to cheer him up, he was always so unhappy now, either withdrawn or furious.

The world was a hazy gray, mist curling up from the marches that would be sucked up as soon as the sun would peek over the horizon, making the air damp and the heat even more unbearable. She was late - the streets were crawling with Urko's men now, who didn't seem to need sleep at all. She would only have some hasty moments with Galen, before she’d have to hurry back. Zana debated for a moment to turn around, and try again the following night; but she didn’t dare to let another day creep by, with Urko in town, and Galen and the humans unaware of the danger just a short mile away.

She was nearly collapsing from the exertion when she arrived at the stockade of the humans’ village, but at least she hadn’t had time to scare herself with fantasies about ghost lights and alligators this time. Peet greeted her from the shadow of their wagon - did he ever sleep? - and slipped inside to get Galen. Zana climbed into the wagon, glad to be able to sit down and catch her breath for a moment.

She was still out of breath, however, when Galen poked his head in. „Zana?“ he whispered. „Thank the Mothers that you made it! Urko is here!“

„I _know!_ I’m lodging in the same town as him!“ She held up a hand to stop him from distracting her further from her purpose. „I don’t have much time - Galen, I think I may have found something that will break the fever. It was in the ‘Causes and Cures’, not in any of the veterinarian scrolls, so I don’t know if it’s dangerous for humans, though...“ She lit a candle stump and shielded the light with her palm; she wanted to show him the plant drawing that she had marked with a pin. If anyone was wondering about the tiny glow coming from the wagon, Galen and Peet were both there; no reason to assume someone _else_ was also with them.

Peet leaned over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the herb. „You should show that to Al,“ he remarked, „he grew up on a farm and went hunting and fishing, and frolicking in the woods an’ all that stuff. He’ll know what it is an’ where to find it - if that weed grows here at all, that is.“

Galen snatched the scroll out of her hands and scanned it briefly. „Fine. I’ll show this to the village healer and tell her how to administer it, and then we’re leaving. I’m not going to spend another day here, with Urko that close.“

„We can’t leave now!“ Zana protested. She looked from Galen to Peet, from ape to human, both gaping at her. „We’d need to break through their quarantine cordon, and if Tilan doesn’t shoot us, the whole prefecture will be on our heels! Do you really think Urko wouldn’t notice _that?“_

„Are you suggesting we stay put?“ Galen grabbed her arm. „You’d have to go back into town... into Trion and stay with Tilan! Do you think Urko wouldn’t notice _that?“_

„Galen’s right,“ Peet said. „It’s too dangerous.“

„We can’t leave these humans to their fate,“ Zana said firmly. „And we also can’t risk raising suspicion. So we just need to be... inconspicuous.“

„Be inconspicuous? By staying directly under Urko’s nose? _Are you out of your mind?“_ Galen jumped up, but the footwell was too stuffed with their possessions to give him room for pacing. So he just held his head as if it would fall off any moment. Zana flicked a glance to Peet, but the human said nothing, just chewed on the inside of his lip as he watched her with an unreadable expression.

„I’ll stay in my room,“ she said to Galen, „I’m pregnant, I have the perfect excuse - I have a long, gruelling journey behind me, and I need to catch up on sleep and get some rest while I have the opportunity. Tilan’s wife has two children, she’ll back me up on that. She already has.“ Ever since Zana had spotted Urko’s platoon, she had pretty much kept to her room all day. Inta had sent Forla up with her meals and just remarked that she’d have been happy if Tilan had done the same for her during her pregnancies.

„You find that herb,“ she said, „and get that fever under control. As soon as the prefect sees that your cure is working, she’ll lift the quarantine, and we’ll be free to go, nice and normal. If we’re lucky, Urko will have left long before that.“

„How do you know he’s not here because of that plague?“ Peet asked. He had leaned back so that his face was no longer illuminated by the candle, and his voice was calm, but Zana could feel the tension radiating from him as if a bushcat had suddenly climbed into their wagon and was now crouching in the shadows, ready to pounce.

„It’s a human illness, Peet. I doubt he’s interested in that,“ Galen sat down with a sigh. „It’s, it’s probably sheer coincidence that he’s here. Urko does regular inspection rounds up and down the domain. He justifies it by saying that it’s keeping the prefects on their toes, but my father thinks it’s because he can’t stand staying in the city for too long at a time. He is a Gorilla, after all.“

„Hm.“ Peet didn’t sound convinced, but he kept silent after that.

„What if Kanla decides she likes my work so much that she wants to keep us here for good?“ Galen muttered. „I had the distinct impression she was already contemplating that when she forced me to find a cure for the human fever. She needs to keep her humans in good condition, if she wants to get her prefecture out of debt.“

„That’s her problem,“ Peet said roughly. „I’m not staying, an’ neither will Al.“

„She can’t force you to stay when there’s no crisis,“ Zana said. She stood. „I need to go. The sun will be up soon, and I need to be back in my room long before that.“

„I’d really rather you stay here, Zana,“ Galen muttered. „The thought of you living almost door to door with that... that baboon makes my fur stand on end.“

„Don’t worry about me, dear.“ She kissed him, on the cheek, because of the human in the room. „And look at it this way - as long as I’m in Trion, I can keep an eye on Urko.“

Peet rose with her. „I’ll bring you to the line.“

They walked in silence; the human was a brooding shadow at her side. Zana couldn’t imagine what he had to be feeling now, with his torturer so close. Was he wishing they had run, like Galen had wanted? Was he frozen inside with terror, like she would’ve been, if Urko had done to her what he had done to him? Was he... She stopped abruptly and put out a hand to catch his arm.

He didn’t flinch, but he froze for a tiny moment before he relaxed.

„Peet,“ Zana said. „Promise me you’re not... not planning something stupid.“

In the weak light of dawn, she saw him turn his head. „What do you mean?“

„I mean something suicidal.“ She squeezed his arm for emphasis. „Promise me you won’t seek out Urko.“

She heard him sigh, saw him tilt his head back, staring at the sky. His teeth were gleaming in a grin, or a snarl. „Ah, Zana.“ He shook himself. „You know me too well.“

She didn’t let go. „Promise me, Peet. On the blood of your mother.“

He flinched a bit at _that,_ but kept silent. Zana waited.

„Sun will be up soon,“ he finally said.

„That’s right,“ Zana confirmed.

The silence stretched, not because he was testing her resolve, but because he was struggling; and when he finally sighed, and muttered, „I’ll promise I won’t come near the damn bastard... on the... on the blood of my mother,“ she didn’t feel relieved.

Not at all.

She patted him awkwardly on the arm. „Life will be better north of the mountains, Peet. You’ll see.“

He didn’t say anything to that.

When they reached the willow with the red band of the plague warning in its branches, it was Peet who held her back. „Be careful yourself, Zana,“ he warned. „Don’t think you have to get intel on him at all costs. If he sees you, you’ll be all alone - and you can’t outrun him.

„And we’ll never know he’ll be coming.“

* * *

There he was, telling Virdon of a school project they were doing right now, although Virdon couldn’t understand what kind of project it was, even when Chris showed it to him; Virdon stared at the strings of colored light bending and twisting between Chris’ fingers, and Chris was rattling down mathematical formulas that were completely incomprehensible to him. Virdon felt humbled and frustrated, and dimly aware that he was dreaming, but Chris' _presence_ was so clear and real, and God, he had missed him so much, and it was so good to be with him again, even if his son was focused on the light between his hands-

He became aware of the thin, lumpy straw mattress below him, digging into his sore hip, and of the hand that was softly shaking his shoulder. The dream went out like a snuffed candle, and he was back... back in another dream. The one that refused to end.

Virdon drew a deep breath and rolled on his back. Ehme’s worried face hovered above him. „I’m sorry to wake you, Tamas,“ she murmured, „but your master wants to see you.“

Virdon sat up with a grunt. The night had been gruelling, with another six people dying, and four new arrivals, two of them already in bad condition. He had directed the... the disposal of the dead bodies - poor Pete would have to dig another communal grave today - and helped to bathe the two men in the cold water from the well to get the fever down. They had to repeat it at least four times before the temperature stayed down, although it was still not back to normal. Virdon expected the fever to rise again over the course of the morning. He still wasn’t sure that the drop had anything to do with their efforts - these ups and downs were typical for malaria.

And now Galen wanted to see him, when he felt as if he had closed his eyes just five minutes ago. Virdon rubbed his face and tried to wake up completely. Whatever it was had to be important enough to deny him his sorely needed sleep, but no emergency, or Galen wouldn’t have sent Ehme.

_Urko still hasn’t found us, I assume. I hope._

The thought of the gorilla was enough to wake him up completely. He reached for his crutch and slowly made his way to Galen’s office.

The chimp looked as tired out as Virdon felt, with red-rimmed eyes and tousled fur as if he had been tearing at his hair. Viron lowered himself into the only chair in the room and wished for a cup of coffee. „You wanted to see me?“

Galen rubbed his eyes. „Yes. I’m sorry to rouse you at this time of the day, but Zana came by and...“

„Zana? Where is she now?“

Galen sighed and tugged at his hair. „She went back to Trion.“

„What?“ Virdon stared up at him, wide awake now. „Why in the world would she... why in the world would you let her go back? Urko...“

„I know, I _know!_ Don’t you think I tried to talk sense into her? She insisted that it would be impossible to break out without him noticing, and that we would have a better chance if we, if we just stayed as inconspicuous as possible. And resolve this,“ he made a swipe with his arm, indicating the village and the whole situation, „as quickly as possible, too, so that Kanla will lift the quarantine. Which is why I called you. Zana has found an herb that has been used to treat this kind of up-and-down fever, and with good success, according to this work.“ He unrolled the scroll and turned it around to show it to Virdon. „Peet said you know a lot of herbs. Does this look familiar to you?“

Virdon craned his neck and studied the drawing. It was well done, very exact, and he had no problem recognizing the herb. „That looks like wormwood. What does the text say?“ In the weeks of his recovery, Zana had begun to teach him the apes’ script, to pass him the time and distract him from the pain, but he still wasn’t fluent, and right now, he was too tired to try and make sense of the markings.

Galen turned the scroll back, and began to read. „The stem is brown or violet, and without hairs. The leaves are the length of a finger, and are divided by deep cuts into two or three small leaflets. The whole plant can grow to the height of a grown ape, but is mostly just about as high as a child. The leaves, when rubbed, exude a strong scent. It grows in warm, sunny places and dislikes standing in stagnant water, which is a sign that it also dislikes all pests flourishing in and around stagnant waters.“ He let the scroll sink. „For use against the fever, I need the young upper parts, and especially the flowers. The flowers are little green-yellow knobs...“

Virdon nodded. „I know the plant. My mother used it to deworm our farm animals. But as you said, it dislikes stagnant water. It might be difficult to find some around here.“

„Ehme will go with you.“ Galen rolled up the scroll and put it back into its container. „She is the apprentice of old Duna, and will take over as village healer one day, so she is familiar with all the places where you might be lucky. You had planned to go collect some herbs later today anyway, or so she told me.“

„Yes.“ He had already told the villagers to burn green reeds and herbs, and soft, rotten wood, to at least keep the concentration of mosquitoes down inside the village; but there were some more herbs he wanted to show Ehme - she knew tansy, and they already used the plant to rub on their skin to keep the gnats at bay, but if you mixed the dried and powdered herb with pennyroyal, fleabane, and sawdust, you had a much more potent fumigation at your disposal.

Ehme poked her head through the curtain. „I packed some hot tea, and bread and cheese, master.“

So, they’d eat breakfast on the go. Virdon suppressed a sigh and drew himself up on his crutch. Ehme handed him a woven pannier and helped him to strap it on; Virdon wondered just how much wormwood Galen was expecting them to bring back.

„I’m aware that some humans are extracting alcohol from rotten fruit,“ Galen said to Ehme, and held up his hand when she started to protest. „I know it’s forbidden; I don’t care at all.“ He smiled at her stunned silence. „So if you’d drop a word that I need as much of your - ‘moon beams’, I believe you call it, as possible, I’d be so grateful. You see, I need to steep that herb in alcohol, otherwise the medicine won’t work. No off you go, and try to bring back as much as possible.“

„You’re making moonshine?“ Virdon swallowed the ‘still’ at the last moment; he couldn’t let slip to her that he had not only come from a faraway place, but also a faraway time. He tried to imagine Burke’s glee when he’d learn of the existence of moonshine; maybe they’d even find a coffee plantation somewhere. The climate had changed enough to make it possible.

He returned his attention to Ehme, who was still mortified. „You know how distillation works? I need to talk to your men when we get back. You see, you can also distill the oils from aromatic herbs...“

They had quite a distance to walk until the ground was dry enough to make him hopeful they would get lucky; Virdon wasn’t sure they were even inside the quarantine zone anymore. If Tilan or some other officer on patrol saw them out there, he’d shoot them before they’d have a chance to explain themselves. If they came across Urko...

It was no use thinking about that now. He determinedly turned his attention to their search.

It was Ehme, though, who saw it first - a big enough patch to fill both their baskets; since they were only cutting the tips, there was no need to spread out their harvest area. The plants would simply sprout new stalks, and even more than before. If Galen’s cure worked, the village would have an unlimited supply of anti-malaria medicine.

„I think we can go back and bring the doctor the first load,“ he said, „so that he can start making the medicine. Maybe we can go back by the main ditch - we should have a good chance of finding the plants there that I told you about earlier. Fleabane loves wet places, and so does pennyroyal. Funny how all the plants that help against marsh fever grow in the marches, hm?“ He smiled at her.

Ehme shrugged. „The Mothers give the illness and the cure. Duna has tried willow bark - that had helped against the fevers before. Just this one is different; nothing has helped.“ She sighed. „She said that our forebears knew many more herbs, but the teachers were killed, and the knowledge was lost with them.“

Virdon didn’t ask who had killed those teachers, or why. He had a pretty good idea about-

His leg gave out all of a sudden.

He grabbed his crutch with both hands, trying to stay upright, but his leg was on fire, and twisting inside, all the muscles cramping up at once. Virdon slid to the ground with a huff and grabbed his thigh. For a moment, the pain was too intense to even moan; he couldn’t draw a breath to do that. He was aware of Ehme unhooking the straps of his pannier, but the agony was drowning out most of his surroundings.

When the drilling pain finally subsided to a dull ache, he lay back with an exhausted sigh. The sun burned on his closed eyelids, painting fireworks on the background glow. For a while he just lay there, soaking up the warmth, trying to convince his leg that the warmth was soothing the cramps.

Ehme had sat down beside him. „What happened to your leg?“

„Hunting accident.“ Apes often used their human slaves as beaters. Sometimes, a human was mistaken for a deer. It was the most unsuspicious explanation.

„Can I see the wound?“

„It’s already scarred over.“ Virdon felt uncomfortable. He wasn’t in the habit of letting his pants down in front of random females, human or simian.

„The scarring may be the problem.“ Ehme sounded calm, professional. She was a healer’s apprentice, Virdon reminded himself.

„Alright...“ He nestled the string open that ran through the waistband and nudged the fabric down just far enough for the scar to show.

Ehme ran a warm finger down its length. „That doesn’t look like a hole from a bullet.“

„No, that’s... that’s farther to the side.“ Virdon tried to ignore the butterflies sensation that her touch had stirred deep inside. „A... a colleague of my... of the doctor cut me open and took the bullet out. The wound had gotten infected.“

Her fingers were still touching his skin.

„Sometimes scars can cause pain, when they go deep into the flesh,“ Ehme murmured and bent deeper over his exposed hip. „They knit together layers of skin and muscle and that can constrict your range of motion, or pinch a nerve.“ Her breath on his skin was like a caress. Virdon squeezed his eyes shut again and tried to focus on the sun’s warmth instead of the other warmth pooling in his gut.

„You should massage that scar, so that it softens and doesn’t cause you so much pain,“ he heard Ehme say. „Like this.“ She began to softly rub over his scarred flesh, and Virdon held his breath and began to recite the digits of pi in his mind.

„First you rub the scar in a circular motion, like this,“ he heard Ehme’s voice, and maybe he was imagining it, but it sounded huskier than before. „And don’t apply too much pressure while you’re doing that. After that, you want to break up those adhesions, that means you’ll rub in one direction and for that, you need to apply a bit more pressure...“

The touch became firm now, lighting a spark, and there was a different pressure now mounting in him, and this was all in the too close vicinity of-

He sat up as if a spring had released in his spine, and covered her hand with his, stopping her movements. „I think I understood the principle of it, I’ll make sure to massage it from now on.“ He drew a shuddering breath. Her hand was still resting under his, on his groin.

„You should use oil for it, to soften it up more,“ she said, holding his gaze.

„That’s... that’s a good idea,“ he managed to keep his voice steady. „It really... I think it won’t cause as many problems when it’s soft.“ He reached for his waistband with his other hand and pulled it up, and Ehme finally took her hand away. Virdon got up on his knees, facing away from her, and fumbled with the drawstring. „We should go back,“ he mumbled. „The doctor is probably wondering what took us so long.“

„He knows you have a bad leg,“ Ehme commented while she helped him to strap on his pannier, „I mean, you got it because of him. Don’t worry so much, Tamas.“ She rounded him and cupped his face in her hand. „Everything will turn out just fine.“ She smiled at him, and for a moment, Virdon was sure she would kiss him. But she just turned away and bent down to retrieve his crutch.

The sun was burning down on his neck even more viciously than before, but Virdon hardly noticed it. _I’m married. I’m still married._ Time didn’t mean a thing when you could cross it like you could cross an ocean. He’d find a way back over that abyss, and Sally would be there, alive, and _she’d_ cup his face and kiss him. And then they’d make love, and he’d cry into her shoulder, or maybe she’d cry in his, and he’d hold her, and kiss her, and vow to never leave her again.

_I only want her. Only her._


	4. Chapter 4

„I’m glad that you found a crack in your schedule to slip me in, Kanla.“ Urko slowly lowered himself in the chair on the other side of the Chimp’s desk and dug into the inner pouch of his vest for his pipe. Now that the damn woman hadn’t been able to avoid seeing him any longer, he’d make it clear to her that the length of his visit wasn’t determined by her.

As well as a lot of other things.

„When I was your commander, you were the first to jump to attention when you spotted me.“ He grinned. „The others used you as a sort of early warning system.“

Kanla eyed him cooly. „That was a lifetime ago,“ she said. „And I do have a tight schedule. So what brings you here? I sent for a veterinarian, but you don’t look as if you’d changed professions.“

Urko didn’t answer right away. Kanla had been an eager young lieutenant when they had started out on their campaign, eager to please, eager to prove herself. He had lost sight of her over the course of the human uprising - there was just so _much_ to do - and when they had finally stomped out the last of those vicious pests, she had been two districts away, probably busy with her own cleanup. And then she had applied for this prefecture, and gotten it, and he had completely forgotten about her.

Now she looked old, and harrassed, and not at all happy to see him. Urko smiled to himself and began to pack his pipe. „Well, how could I ignore your plea for help, Kanla? I’m always there for my lieutenants, even if they never send a greeting for New Year or Remembrance Day.“

„I have a pretty good idea what kind of help you have on offer, Urko,“ Kanla snapped. „And I’m not interested. I need those humans.“

„Nobody _needs_ humans,“ Urko growled. He lit his pipe. „Filthy pests. Do you want to be the torch that sets the whole district on fire? Huh? Do you want to be ‘Prefect Kanla, who sicced the plague on innocent apes, because she couldn’t bring herself to have her pets clubbed while there still was time’? They’re contagious, Kanla, they’re a hazard to public health.“

Kanla leaned back in her seat and regarded him with her cool, steady gaze. Urko held it, a slight smile playing on his lips. Kanla was cold and hard like marble; the only thing she was pissed off about right now was that he was here to tell her what to do.

Well, too bad. She could’ve handled this on her own, if greed hadn’t clouded her judgment. Now he was here, and he’d see to it that simian safety got the priority it deserved.

„As chance would have it, I already have all the help I need,“ she said finally. „A veterinarian, no less. And according to his report, the fever is already breaking, and there haven’t been any new infections. So,“ she leaned forward, and bared her teeth to him, „with all due respect, General, I must decline your offer. It isn’t needed here. My humans are on the mend, and will be back on my fields soon, harvesting my cotton, and filling the prefecture’s treasury with sweet money.“

„A veterinarian, huh? What a... convenient coincidence.“ Damn woman looked way too smug. Urko wouldn’t be surprised if she’d pulled that doctor out of her ass. Couldn’t really fault her - the prefecture sorely needed the money. He had taken a peek at their finances before he had hurried north; they were deeply in debt, and the last years had all but destroyed their harvests.

Kanla narrowed her eyes. „Are you accusing me of lying? I can make use of an opportunity - if you remember.“

He remembered. Those had been good times. „Who is that vet?“

„A Dr. Kova. Was on his way back to his own prefecture up north.“ Kanla remained straight in her seat, tense like a coiled spring. Her eyes were fixed on him, alert and intense.

Urko felt his own blood quicken in response. This was like fight practice. He licked his lips. He’d throw that Chimp to the mat. No ape was a match for a Gorilla.

No ape was a match for _this_ Gorilla.

„What was he doing that far south?“

Kanla shrugged. „I didn’t ask him. Not my business. But he’s a damn good doctor, because he’s the first who found a cure against the fever.“ She waggled the scroll in her fist. „I already sent copies of his report to the neighbouring prefectures, just in case they have the same problem. Mothers willing, we won’t have that problem in the future.“

„So all that digging and wearing fancy costumes were that doctor’s ideas, hm?“ There was something about the batch of covered up humans digging that ditch that plucked at the edges of his mind, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. The human he had asked had stammered that they were hiding from the mosquitos, that the mosquitos were the bringers of sickness, and that idea was so... so _outlandish._ It didn’t sound like something any self-respecting ape doctor would have suggested.

„Yes. Kova wrote in his report that he thinks the mosquitos are responsible for spreading the fever to the humans,“ Kanla echoed his thoughts.

Urko leaned forward. „And how did the good doctor come to that conclusion? Did he take the little pests’ temperature?“

Kanla blinked, taken aback. „I’ve no idea how he... I’m not a doctor. I let him do his job, he lets me do mine. That’s how it works, Urko - you can’t do everyone’s job. And he’s doing a fine job. The humans are recovering.“

„You seen any of those healed humans? No?“ He smiled at her embarrassed silence. „I want to speak to that doctor.“

„He’s in the quarantined zone,“ Kanla murmured. „He’s not allowed to cross the demarcation line. A... a precautionary measure.“

„You just told me he single-handedly cured your humans,“ Urko pointed out. „And if that fever is dangerous to apes, it’d only take me, right?“ Now he allowed that smile to broaden. „And would that really bother you?“ He rose. „Get that doctor here, Prefect, or I’ll ride to that village and pull his sorry ass out myself. And while I’m at it, I’ll bring my platoon and have them torch the place and every single human they can shoot. Just a precautionary measure, you understand.“

He tapped the pipe out on her desk and turned to leave.

„If you lit a single leaf of grass, I’ll have _your_ ass, Urko,“ Kanla shouted after him. „This is _my_ territory, you understand me?“

Urko walked on as if he hadn’t heard her. But he felt his grin stretch until it encompassed him, encompassed earth and sky, stretching to the horizon.

Soon, he’d taste blood again.

* * *

The sun was already setting, copper light caressing the wooden beams of the barn and throwing a golden hue over the old cotton bedsheets, when one of Peet’s workers came running into Galen’s office, eyes huge in the pale face, his digger’s cap crumpled in his fist. „There’s a guard outside, doctor,“ he wheezed, „but none of ours! He wants t’ see ya!“

_Urko!_

The thought slammed into Galen like a fist, pushing him into the seat. He exchanged a hasty glance with Peet, who had taken over from Alan as his assistant for the day, and found his panic reflected in the human’s dark eyes.

Peet’s nostrils flared for a moment; then the same panic that had frozen Galen on the spot drove him to his feet. „He wants to see the doc?“ he asked the boy. „Why? Is he sick?“

The boy shook his head, then shrugged. Peet grabbed him by the shoulders. „This is important, Omi - did he say anything else?“

The boy shook his head even harder. „Jus’ said he wants to see the doctor.“

„Is it a chimp, or a gorilla?“

Omi frowned. „A chimpanzee. There’s no gorilla officers.“

Peet let him go with a huff and turned away. „Stupid, lucky kid,“ he muttered. „Tell the officer the doc is with a patient, an’ he’ll be out in a moment.“

He didn’t even wait for the light footsteps to fade. „Urko!“

„Of course it’s Urko,“ Galen said faintly. „Who else would send one of his men into a quarantined zone?“ And who but one of Urko’s fanatical followers would go?

„Do you...“ Peet’s voice faltered for a moment. „Do you think he has Zana?“

Galen stared at the scroll on the desk before him. It was opened at the drawing of the plant that his humans called ‘worm wood’, and for a moment, he traced its stem and the outline of its leaves, forcing all thoughts of Zana in Urko’s hands out of his mind.

„No,“ he said finally, when he was reasonably certain he’d have his voice under control, „I don’t think he has her. He wouldn’t be able not to brag about that fact - he’d come out here himself to let me know.“

Peet drew a quick breath, a noisy in- and exhale, and nodded. „You’re right. Yeah. He’d do that.“ He rubbed a hand over his face. „But why the hell send one of his men for you, then?“

Galen rose on wobbly knees. „I guess there’s only one way to find out.“

Peet stared at him. „You’re going out there? Are you fucking crazy? What if it’s the lieutenant - you know, the one who helped us to get Al out of that hole in Atlanta?“

During their weeks-long journey up North, Galen had told Peet about their efforts to find him, and how he and Zana had run into Nelva in the City’s precinct. It had been Peet who had wondered how Nelva had escaped a very personal execution when Urko had found out that he had disobeyed his direct order to shoot them all. Whatever it was, Nelva apparently held a special place in the Gorilla’s heart; it was entirely possible that it was him out there.

Then inspiration struck him. „Give me your hood - the one you wear when you’re out in the marches.“

Peet shook his head. „You really think that’ll fool him?“

But he went to get it all the same. It didn’t fit very well - human faces were flatter than ape faces - but it completely covered his head. Galen still felt shaky, and completely recognizable, but it was the best he could think of; better to meet the other ape now, on his own terms, before the officer barged in to arrest him in front of the humans.

The sun had vanished behind the horizon in the meantime; hopefully, the twilight would help to mask his features even more. Affecting a heavy limp for good measure, Galen hobbled out into the muddy main place to meet their nemesis.

The Chimp was still on horseback and didn’t look as if he was going to dismount any time soon. Judging by the look of disgust on his face, there was a good chance he wouldn’t want to soil his boots with mud just to arrest him, Galen thought - not if he could give him a justifiable reason not to. He had brought a second horse with him, a detail that Galen found worrying. „What is it?“ he asked sharply. „Don’t you know this area is under quarantine?“

The Chimp knew it, and wasn’t happy about being here, that much was obvious. „The Chief General has been called to this prefecture to decide over what’s to be done about the humans,“ he said. „He wants to talk to you.“

Galen stared up at him for a moment, too shocked to reply. So Urko wasn’t here by chance - he had somehow gotten wind of this prefecture’s plight, and had decided to ride up North and deliver his own brand of medicine. Galen remembered Touba - his father had voted for sterilization then, too. His mother had been vehemently against it; it was the only time he could remember his parents fighting.

The officer was still staring down at him. „I already sent my report to the prefect,“ Galen snapped. He had waited for Tilan to turn up at the plague willow to give him that scroll. The Chimp had a very regular routine that saved him from having to shoot humans, who knew his route by now, too, and easily evaded him. „It’s all in my report. I don’t have time to drink tea with the Chief General. So if you’d excuse me...“ He turned to go.

„The general insists, doc.“ It was said calmly, with only the slightest hint of ‘don’t make me come down and get you’ in it.

Galen didn’t bother to turn around. „Then the general and you will have to wait until my consultation time is over.“ He hastily limped back into the barn.

Peet was awaiting him directly behind the door. „The old devil came up here because of the fever?“ he hissed. „What the hell?“

Galen tore the hood from his head and took a deep breath. „Join me in the office.“ He hurried to the back of the barn, Peet in tow.

„Urko wants to see me,“ he yelped, as soon as they had slipped behind the curtain.

„You know, this curtain ain’t soundproof,“ Peet said in a low voice, and Galen let go of the fabric with a huff. The human’s face was an indistinct pale blob in the dusk, but Galen thought he could detect a slight tremble in his voice. „You can’t go. Urko knows you.“

„I can’t _not_ go! We can’t just run away, not while Zana is still in that town!“

„He’ll arrest you as soon as you poke your ugly head through the door!“ Peet snapped, and now Galen was certain that the human’s voice was trembling. Unsteady. „An’ then he’ll torture you until you tell him where Zana is! An’ then he’ll hang you both, in the town square!“

He didn’t mention himself and Alan, Galen noticed; whether it was because Peet was sure that they would just be shot like rabbits, or because he didn’t plan on waiting around for Urko’s baboons, Galen couldn’t tell.

He drew a deep breath. _Think. Think logically._

„As I said, I can’t refuse,“ he began. „Urko would get even more suspicious, and probably send his whole platoon here. That wouldn’t end well for the humans here.“

„It won’t end well for them either way,“ Peet muttered. „You know what that menace thinks about humans.“

Galen spread his fingers, wordlessly acknowledging Peet’s assessment. „Perhaps I can buy us - and them - some time. The illness is in retreat; once that is undeniable, Urko will find it hard to sterilize this village. Kanla won’t cooperate either way, we just need to give her-“

„Wait, wait, wait!“ Peet held up a hand. „Sterilize? What the hell are you talking about, doc?“

„What do you think it means?“ Galen snapped, cursing himself for his gaffe. „Help me think about how to prevent it, will you? That officer won’t wait around forever!“

Peet turned away, rubbing his face with both hands, and raking them through his hair. He was greatly distressed, Galen translated silently; he was still not too sure of human body language, but this gesture was something he had memorized - maybe because Peet showed it so often. „Okay, so - you gotta disguise yourself somehow.“ He gestured towards the hood in Galen’s hand. „You could wear our digger uniform, tell him it’s to prevent contagion. That limp was also a nice touch.“

„He’ll still recognize my voice,“ Galen cautioned.

„You need to disguise your voice, too.“ Peet worried his lip, thinking. „Talk in that accent of yours, that drawl.“

„I don’t drawl!“

„You do when you do your ‘Dr. Kova’ impersonation.“

Galen raised his brows. He had never realized he drawled when he slipped into the persona of Dr. Kova, and considering how long he had been wearing it now, whatever accent he had affected at first had probably vanished in the meantime. He wasn’t sure he could find it again, especially since he didn’t know what to look for. „Anything else?“

„Yeah. Mumble, talk through your nose, stutter - anything that’ll conceal your natural voice. Oh, wait!“ Peet’s voice sounded excited all of a sudden. Galen frowned - _that_ was always a worrying sign. „I have an idea!“

Before Galen could say anything, Peet had vanished. He returned a short while later, a leather roll in his hand. „Guess what that is?“

Galen eyed the package. „I couldn’t say in this light.“

He heard a soft thud as Peet let the package drop on his desk to light a candle. „A greeting from home, buddy - that’s your dad’s tobacco. You don’t smoke, do you? At least I’ve never seen you smoke...“ He bent down to dig for something in the lower shelf.

„No, I don’t smoke,“ Galen said slowly. „How did you get hold of my father’s tobacco?“

Peet straightened; he held a low, wide earthen bowl in his hand. „Nabbed it from your house when we were there the first time. After you and Zana broke us out of the institute. Thought we could use it for barter, an’ then forgot about it. Good thing Zana kept my backpack while I was... away.“ He put the bowl on the desk and nestled at the leather string that held the roll together.

„And what do you want with it now? As I said, I don’t smoke.“ It was strange to see something from his home here, all of a sudden. Not a greeting, as Peet had said; more like a memory of someone else’s life.

Peet looked up with a grin. „Until now, doc, until now.“ He went to the tea oven and scooped some coals into the bowl, then returned to the desk with it. „I noticed you apes smoke pipe. No appreciation for a good cigar, it’s a shame. Anyway, you just puff a pipe - you don’t inhale that smoke. Well, except _you_ do - you’ll bathe your throat in that sweet perfume, so that you’ll sound like a bag of rocks afterwards.“ He seasoned the coal with tobacco; a sweet, heavy scent filled the room.

... sunny mornings with his father reading the paper, and his mother urging him to eat up his vegetables... Galen swallowed.

„C’mon, buddy, we don’t have much time, said it yourself.“ Peet waved him over to his chair. „Now you just hold your head over the fumes, and breathe in...“ He stopped when Galen started to cough, and cough.

„I... I c... can’t...“ A new wave of coughs wracked his body. Eyes streaming, Galen pushed away from the bowl.

„Sure you can,“ Peet encouraged him. He gently, but firmly pushed him back towards the bowl. „Think of Zana, doc. You’re doin’ this for her.“

Galen tried again, but the smoke was thick, and oily, and scratched in his throat as if someone had pushed a chimney brush into his chest and was vigorously scrubbing away the lining of his voice box.

Well, that _had_ been the thought behind it, right? He wiped his eyes and tried for a third time.

This time, the coughs wouldn’t die down, and when they finally subsided, Galen felt so wrung out that not even the thought of Urko waiting for him could upset him anymore. „That’s it,“ he croaked, „that’ll have to do.“ His voice was brittle and maybe a tiny bit deeper than before, and he had to fight the urge to constantly clear his throat.

Or maybe he shouldn’t fight that urge - it might be annoying enough to divert from his actual voice.

Peet accompanied him outside and helped him on the horse. „Be back soon, doc,“ he said. „People here need you.“

Galen just nodded - since he had talked to Urko’s man before his smoke inhalation, he didn’t dare to let him hear his changed voice now. His horse didn’t have reins, he realized; it was tied to the officer’s saddle horn like a pack horse. No chance to suddenly bolt and escape into the darkening marches.

The officer turned his horse and led him away in a swift trot. Galen turned in the saddle to throw a last look at Peet, but the human was already gone. He had the distinct feeling that Peet was preparing for battle.

He prayed to the Mothers it wouldn’t be necessary.

* * *

There was one clump of straw under the blanket that pressed into Virdon’s back, no matter how he shifted his body around. The drilling pain in his hip had finally subsided into a dull ache, running down the length of his leg and making his toes tingle. Under the thin veil of sleep, he could hear the other humans shifting and sighing on their cots, as restless as he was. Thoughts floated through his mind like leaves on a river.

There were still so many people ill... they would have to go out and collect more wormwood... Pete’s grin, his brows climbing into his hairline, when Omi had shown them their secret distillery... Pete was a bit better, lately, not so grim anymore, except when he had to dig graves... he really got along great with that boy...

Someone was falling into him all of a sudden, and he jerked back with a gasp. Hands grabbed his shoulders. „Tamas, wake up! Wake up!“ An urgent hiss, almost a shout.

Ehme. Virdon struggled to sit up. It was Ehme, shaking like a leaf as she climbed onto his cot, and into his arms. „Oh, you’re awake, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...“ She threw her arms around him, and buried her face in his neck. „They’ll kill us, Tamas! They’ll kill us, oh Mothers...“

Virdon’s tongue was sticky and swollen, and his throat felt dry and itchy. He cleared his throat. „What are you... what happened?“ He was hugging her back, he realized. „Who is killing whom?“

„The apes,“ Ehme whispered against his throat. Virdon felt something wet against his skin; she was crying. „I just heard your friend talk to your master. The general has come to kill us all... because we're sick.“

_Urko._

Virdon’s stomach clenched, and his heartbeat picked up. He drew a deep breath, now wide awake. „What did they say, exactly?“

Ehme turned her head a bit, so that she wouldn’t talk against his skin, for which he was grateful; but her arms were still hugging him tightly. He could feel her soft breasts through the thin cloth of her dress.

Urko. Urko was planning something vicious. He had to focus. „Tell me exactly what they said.“

„I... I didn’t hear everything,“ Ehme confessed. „I didn’t mean to listen in, but the office is only separated by a curtain, and your friend was a bit loud sometimes... he said something of, of arrest, and torture, and that it won’t end well for us. And then the doctor went out to talk to the officer, and rode off with him, to see the general-“

 _„What?“_ Virdon took her by the shoulders and broke her clutch, holding her at arm’s length to make eye contact. Ehme’s eyes were huge in her face, dark with fear. She wiped her face with her palms, trying to dry her tears, but they were steadily rolling down her cheeks. „He... he rode off?“

He started to rise, but Ehme clung to him. „Where do you want to go? They left shortly after sunset - you’ll never catch up to them.“ She cupped his face with both hands. „And even if you did, what could you do? The officer would just shoot you.“ Her eyes filled with new tears. „They’ll shoot us all, and then burn our bodies, so the illness doesn’t spread.“

Virdon remembered his conversation with Galen - either the apes’ method of containment was universally known among humans, or Ehme had really snatched up part of a conversation between Pete and Galen. And with Galen being as good as arrested...

Something was brewing.

He had to find out what was going on, but first he had to calm down the young woman. If a panic broke out in the village, the situation would quickly get out of control. „Shh, Ehme. I’m sure the doctor will convince the general to let him complete his treatment.“ He gently rubbed her arms. „And by then, y'all will be healthy again, and there'll be no need to shoot anyone. Have you... have you told anyone yet?“

Ehme shook her head. „No. I came to you first.“

Virdon suppressed a relieved sigh. „That was the right thing to do. Don’t tell the others yet, they’ll only panic. Let’s wait for what the doctor says when he returns.“

Ehme stared at him. Virdon couldn’t see her face clearly in the weak light of the moon that filtered through the open doors, only the dark shadows of her eyes. „And what if he doesn’t return?“

_Then we have a problem._

„Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Ehme,“ he said. „We’ll deal with problems once they exist, anything else is just a waste of energy.“

Ehme sighed shakily and nodded. „I’ll... I’ll try. But I don’t want to die.“ She wiped her eyes again. „This life is hard... But when I get up in the morning, and the sun has just risen, and the world is silent... and everything is glowing in that early light...“ She smiled wistfully. „Then I feel so wide and happy inside. I want to spread my arms and embrace the world. It’s so beautiful. I don’t want to leave all that behind yet. I want to get old. I want... I want to have children. I want a good man, one who is... gentle and loving, and...“ She laughed an embarrassed laugh, “... good looking...“

„You’ll find that man, Ehme,“ Virdon said gently. „And you’ll live a long and happy life.“

He saw Ehme clench her fists in her lap. Then she looked up with a sudden jerk of her head. „I think I already found him.“ And with an equally sudden determination, she grabbed his neck and kissed him.

It was a hasty kiss, no more than a pressing of her lips on his, and she fled immediately. Virdon stared after her, his lips tingling.

Then he heard Pete’s amused cough. His friend was sitting on the edge of one of the patients’ beds, helping a little boy to sit up and drink some water or medicine.

„How long have you been watching us?“ Virdon wanted to know. He strained his eyes to detect Ehme, but she had vanished into the shadows.

„Long enough to admire your skills at consoling her,“ Burke grinned. He gently helped the boy to lie down again and got up to amble over to Virdon. „Though I can’t say you calmed her down, exactly.“

„I didn’t... _she_ kissed _me,“_ Virdon felt compelled to point out.

Burke laughed. „Face it, buddy, you’re not just being hunted by apes anymore.“

Virdon lowered his voice. „About that... she told me Galen got arrested.“

Burke instantly became serious. „Not arrested. Not yet. Urko wanted to speak to Dr. Kova. I guess... I’ve no idea why. Guess he’s pissed because your medicine is curing these people before he can torch them.“

„Urko _knows_ Galen,“ Virdon whispered.

„He put on our digging gear, you know, the KKK outfit. Like a chem suit, ‘cause we don’t want to accidentally infect the dear general, nosir, an’ he put on his Dixie apeish... you know, that drawl,“ Burke explained when he noticed his stare. „Don’t worry, Al, I prepared him, not even his own mom will recognize him now.“

Virdon squeezed his eyes shut and furiously rubbed his forehead. He suspected that Burke had left out some additional preparations, but he didn’t dare to ask. „Why didn’t you wake me?“ he said instead.

Burke shrugged. „Was no need to. We had it under control. An’ you need your sleep.“

Virdon fought down a wave of irritation. Yes, his leg was still troubling him, but he wasn’t an invalid. He rubbed his hands over his knees. „We need to prepare the evacuation of these people. Just in case.“

„Evacuate where? Urko and his goons will happily open hunting season in the marches,“ Burke pointed out. „Only instead of ducks, they’ll shoot humans.“

„Still. We can do a lot more damage out there than we could here. Or do you want to wait for them?“

Burke leaned back against the barn wall with a sigh. „No. ‘Course not. But in that case _,_ he’ll have Galen. Maybe even Zana. Any ideas how to prepare for that hostage situation?“

„There are only two options,“ Virdon said grimly. „we run, and leave them to their fate, or we try to free them. Under no circumstances can we give ourselves to Urko - he’d just kill us all.“

„You do know that freeing them would mean to kill the bastard?“

„Yes.“ He still hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Urko was too far up in the hierarchy for his death to be ignored. Even the gorilla’s enemies would join the hunt - humans killing the Chief General would set a precedent for humans everywhere. Virdon didn’t want to imagine what kind of example the apes would make of them.

„Not saying I’m hoping for that piece of shit to get his hands on our girl,“ Burke said slowly. „But if he does, I’m all set for freeing her.“ His voice sounded thoughtful. „Damn monkey still has my knife.“

„Don’t do anything rash, Pete,“ Virdon warned him.

„Don’t worry, Al, I’m all sensible an’ calm.“ Burke rose and stretched.

Virdon wasn’t fooled. „Where are you going?“

„Preparing,“ Burke said slowly. „You prepare that evacuation, Al.

„An’ I’m gonna prepare everything else.“

* * *

„Take off that mask. I want to see who I’m talking to.“

Urko was a hulking black shadow in Kanla’s darkened office. The flickering light of the candles on the prefect’s desk made his face waver in and out of focus, like a heat ghost hanging over a lonely road at noon time. They were said to suck the blood out of lonely travellers. Galen had no doubt that he’d bleed out on the wooden tiles if he took off the mask.

So he ignored the Gorilla’s growl as he slowly limped to the chair and sat down with a huff. „Ah can’t dew that,“ he grunted, trying to draw out each word as long as possible. „Can’t risk contahgion.“

He saw Urko narrow his eyes, and felt the urge to swallow, but when his throat constricted, its irritated lining began to tingle instead, and he coughed. It was a wheezing, whining sound, and Urko jerked back slightly in his chair. „So you admit it’s contagious to apes?“

„Nah,“ Galen wheezed, and wished for something to drink. But then he’d have to lift his mask. „Jus’ in case. A...“ he coughed again, „precaahshon.“ His accent sounded fake and overdone in his ears. Nobody sounded like that. He just hoped that the cloth over his mouth, and the sack of gravel in his throat, would muffle it enough for Urko to dismiss it.

He flapped his hand in Urko’s general direction. „Ah don’t wanna kill you, General. So ahm cautious.“

Urko made a low sound in his throat, a growl or a hum, and unrolled a scroll. His report, Galen realized. „So, in here you write that the mosquitos are responsible for the fever. That's a rather unorthodox theory. I wonder how you came by it... _doctor.“_

„I sat in some of Professor Zoran’s lectures as a student,“ Galen said, his mind racing. „His theories are rather unorthodox, it’s true, but this village was the perfect opportunity to test them - after all, it was already under quarantine, and it’s just humans, right?“

„Humans in close vicinity to _apes,“_ Urko slapped his hand on the scroll. „And you thought you could endanger their lives for your little experiment? I’ll have none of this! These creatures and their nests will be sterilized!“

_„No!“_

A second voice cried out along with him, and with a jerk, a shadow pushed away from the wall behind Urko.

Kanla.

For a moment, Galen could only stare at her, too stunned to think. Kanla had met him before - without the limp, without the accent, without that gravelly, tobacco-damaged voice.

_I’m dead._

Her eyes seemed to bore into him through the mask, burning with a cold fury that made Galen’s hand twitch. The guard had discovered and taken away his knife. But he hadn’t looked into his boot, where a second, smaller knife was hidden, a suggestion from Peet, what an irony-

„You wrote that the humans are recovering. Isn’t that true?“

It took him a moment to realize that Kanla had asked him a question. He just nodded; he was still dazed.

Kanla turned to Urko. „They are recovering,“ she snapped. Then she tore the scroll out from under his hand. „You had your audience, General. The humans will be fine, and if - _if! -_ the sickness spreads to apes, we’ll know how to treat it. So I’d say Dr. Kova’s experiment was successful, and now _get out of my chair.“_

To Galen’s surprise, Urko rose - slowly, deliberately. „The results of this... experiment are completely open,“ he said to Kanla, in that soft, amicable tone that made every hair of Galen’s fur stand on end. „If just a single ape dies of this fever - just _one -_ I’ll burn those vile beasts myself. You,“ he pointed to Galen, „will lose your head, and _you_ ,“ and now his face was only a finger’s breadth from Kanla’s, „will lose this prefecture. Mark my words.“

Galen didn’t dare to move in his chair; he just listened intently to the sound of heavy boots moving towards the door.

Then the steps fell silent. „You have three days to present me a healthy den,“ Urko’s deep voice sounded directly at his left ear, and Galen jumped. „Three days, or I’ll light a bonfire under all your asses.“

The door fell shut and Galen allowed himself the first deep breath since Urko’s guard had shown up hours ago.

And had another coughing fit.

He stumbled to his feet. „I... I’d better go, Prefect. I’m sure the General has already started counting...“

„You.“

His eyes were watering. Kanla was a blurry shadow sinking slowly down into her seat. But her voice was as clear and sharp as the edge of a knife.

_„Sit.“_

* * *

„I’m sooo bored!“

Forla sat on Zana’s bed, kicking her legs and looking as bored and unhappy as only little children can look. It was hot outside - too hot to go out and play, too hot even to do homework, and most apes were dozing the day away, but children had too much energy for that; Zana remembered her own days of hot, angry boredom, before she had discovered that she could hide away in the secret world of story scrolls.

„Do you want to play _keppa?“_ she asked. It was a simple strategy game, but it was aesthetically pleasing, and variable enough to keep both children and adults entertained for hours.

But Forla shook her head and kicked her legs even harder. „Why don’t you come down to eat with us anymore?“

She sounded sullen, and for a moment Zana debated not answering and simply sending her to her mother instead. Then she thought again. Children were like mobile slips of the tongue; they repeated their parents’ private conversations to whichever ear was available.

„I wasn’t feeling well,“ she explained to the girl. „Didn’t your mother tell you that I’m going to have a baby soon?“

„Yes,“ Forla said slowly. „And she also said I mustn’t come up here and _harass_ you. But I’m just sitting on your bed!“

Zana smiled. „That’s alright, I don’t mind you being here.“

„But can’t you come down with me for dinner?“ Forla pleaded and looked up to her with huge, moist eyes. „It’s always so boring when it’s only mommy and daddy and the baby. Mommy is always fussing over him!“

Zana pressed her lips together to hide her smile. „Your brother or your father?“

Forla huffed. „Both!“

Now Zana couldn’t suppress a laugh. „Well, if it’s really just your family... visitors are just too exhausting for me, all that polite conversation...“ _... and all the ugly ways those conversations could end, if they recognize me from the wanted posters..._

Forla hopped from the bed and grabbed her hand. „It’s really just us tonight! Daddy said he’s too tired for having guests over, too! He’s been tired for some days now...“

She continued to babble the whole way from Zana’s room to the kitchen, where Inta was preparing a tray with food. „Oh Neela, what a nice surprise! I was just on my way to you...“

„Forla persuaded me to come down,“ Zana said, feeling guilty all of a sudden, „since you don’t have guests tonight.“ She took her tray. „Here, let me help you...“

Inta snatched the tray out of her hands. _„You_ just sit down. In your state, you shouldn’t be running back and forth like that.“ She ushered her to the table, where Tilan was already sipping his tea.

Zana sank into her seat and tried not to feel like a dirty liar; she was certain that Inta had been on her feet until the last day of her pregnancy. She poured herself a cup of tea, stealing a glance at Tilan, who had greeted her just with a tired smile. „How are you? You look... exhausted.“

The Chimp set down his mug with a thud. „Must be the heat. I’ve been riding patrol around the plague zone for weeks now.“ He shrugged. „There’s a point when it just catches up with you, I guess.“

Zana had a different theory. She leaned forward, careful not to be overheard by Forla. „Are you feeling hot and chilly?“ she murmured. „Aching joints? Just... feeling ill?“

Tilan stared at her with something like fear in his eyes. „Nah. I’m fine. That’s a human sickness, apes don’t get it.“

„We don’t know that yet,“ Zana insisted. „And you’ve been in the marches a lot, riding patrol. If one of the-“ She broke off when Inta appeared at the table with the food. „This looks delicious,“ she said with a smile, and Inta beamed.

For a while, dinner went on under a blanket of Forla’s excited chatter, and the exchange of polite niceties between Inta and Zana. Tilan didn’t say anything; Zana noticed that he was just picking at his food, not really eating anything, but Inta was fussing over their little son, and was completely oblivious.

Tilan needed Galen’s medicine, Zana decided. But the town was crawling with Urko’s men now, and they seemed to be everywhere. „Is it just me, or are there a lot of black uniforms in the streets all of a sudden?“ She kept her gaze on her plate, carefully cutting her meat. „Is there a reason why Trion’s police force is so strong? The roads are safe, aren’t they?“

„Yes, they’re safe,“ Tilan hurried to assure her. He cleared his throat and poured himself another tea. „They’re not ours. They came with the Chief General, and they’ll leave with him, soon.“

„I don’t like them,“ Forla muttered. „They don’t let me pet their horses.“

Inta sighed. „You can’t just pet every animal you see, Forla.“

„Why _not?_ I _like_ animals!“ Forla turned towards Zana. „I’m gonna be a veti... veta... an animal doctor, like your doctor, when I’m grown up!“

„That’s a good plan!“ Zana said encouragingly. „You know what they say - Chimps think fast. We’re the best doctors and scientists. And the animals need our help, because they can’t help themselves.“

„And then I can pet them,“ Forla nodded. „Because I have to see what makes them sick.“

Tilan coughed around his tea. He and Zana shared a look over the rim of their cups, eyes sparkling with mirth. Zana put her mug down. „It seems that this is a win-win situation for everyone in your practice.“ She turned to Tilan. „Do you know why the general is here?“

Tilan sighed. „It’s because of them sick humans. The general is worried it might spread to the apes.“

Zana frowned and speared a piece of meat. „That’s strange, though,“ she said, chewing. „Isn’t he the chief of police? Or is he now also chief of the ministry of health and public hygiene? I thought Minister Zorvan is responsible for containment measures and things like that.“

She busied herself with the steamed vegetables, and pretended not to notice the glance that Tilan and Inta exchanged. „I don’t know,“ Tilan said finally. „The general isn’t... isn’t really someone I want to ask these questions.“

„He’s a Gorilla, isn’t he?“ Zana asked innocently, and Inta’s face clouded for a moment with annoyance, but Tilan just shrugged.

„He is,“ he said, „but he whipped our forces into shape, you’ve gotta grant him that. Gave us better equipment, better weapons, every officer has his own horse now...“ He sighed and rose. „Sorry for being a bad host, but... I’m not hungry. I’ll catch a nap... I’ll see you later, Mila.“ He tousled Forla’s hair and shuffled out of the kitchen.

„Is daddy not feeling well?“ Forla asked in a tiny voice; she looked very young all of a sudden.

Zana sighed and picked at her food. „It’s just the heat, Forla. Your daddy got home from a long day of riding in the sun. Don’t you worry, he’ll be fine after his nap.“

If only she could find a way to sneak out of town!

* * *

_„Sit.“_

Galen dropped back into the chair as if somebody had kicked his legs out under him. He pulled his hood off - there was no point in keeping up this masquerade in front of Kanla - and wiped his runny eyes with it.

He heard water gurgle. „Here, drink something,“ Kanla said gruffly. „What in the white wastes have you done to your throat?“

Galen downed the glass in one go. „We, ah, we’re burning herbs to drive the mosquitos away,“ he said, too embarrassed to tell the Chimp about Peet’s ingenious method of changing his voice by inhaling pipe smoke. „It _is_ rough on one’s throat...“

„And I bet you fell over a bedpan to acquire that limp of yours,“ Kanla said dryly, „but how do you explain the accent?“

„Uh, I, ah, fall back into my home dialect under stress?“ Galen stuttered.

Kanla regarded him for a long moment; so long, in fact, that Galen began to shift in his seat. „You and the general,“ she said finally. „How do you know each other?“

„We... met back in the City. He wants to kill me,“ Galen said simply.

„Why?“

„I helped some humans he wanted to kill.“ It was even the truth, come to think about it.

„History repeats itself, hm?“ Kanla rolled out his report and smoothed the paper with her palm. „Are you a veterinarian, Kova?“

„I studied medicine, yes,“ Galen said cautiously. „But my name wasn’t Kova then.“

„I want to see your approbation certificate,“ Kanla said evenly.

„That approbation is for Dr. Kova,“ Galen pointed out.

Kanla leaned forward. „What about your real approbation?“

Galen clenched his jaw for a moment. „I’m not going to give you my real name, Prefect. I’m sorry.“

They locked eyes, and Galen forced himself to hold her gaze. Every single sentence had been the truth, on its own. He had no reason to avoid eye contact. If the prefect chose to knit a story from those facts that suited her needs, well, that was her doing, not his. Galen had learned long ago that the most powerful lies were those that people told themselves.

Of course one could _suggest_ certain connections by how one arranged the presentation of one’s truths.

„Very well,“ Kanla said finally, and leaned back. „How are my humans doing?“

„Exactly as I wrote in my report,“ Galen said, and refilled his glass. His throat was still itching, and talking made it worse. „The tincture is working, but of course people aren’t going to be well with a snap of the fingers. The fever is breaking, we have no new cases, and in three days...“ He cleared his throat. „In three days, the humans will be better, but not completely healthy again. And I think the general knows that.“ He eyed Kanla’s inscrutable face and decided to gamble.

„It seemed to me that he was pretty eager to find a reason to take that prefecture from you. Maybe he already has someone waiting to take your seat? Someone who doesn’t... disagree with him.“

„And what makes you think that?“ Kanla’s voice was as expressionless as her face.

„The kind of reshuffling I saw happening in the City.“ Galen emptied his glass. „Did you know that Urko has put Council Eldest Zaius under... _protection..._ by his own troupe?“

„No,“ Kanla said slowly.

„Well, I’m not really interested in politics,“ Galen lied, „but it seems to me that you should watch your back, Prefect. The general doesn’t deal gracefully with dissenters.“ He rose. „I really need to go back to the village now. My orderlies are doing what they’re told, but they can only go so long without supervision. Humans, you know.“

Kanla didn’t move. „I’ll have one of my officers take you back. Don’t forget to put your hood back on, doctor.“ Her voice was dry. „We don’t want anyone to catch... that illness, right?“

Galen forced his lips into a tight smile. „No, under no circumstances would I want to catch, ah, anything.“ He put the hood back on and turned towards the door.

„Kova.“

The prefect was leaning forward, elbows propped on the table, fingers laced over the scroll. _„Does_ this illness jump from human to ape?“

„According to my... my understanding of this illness, no,“ Galen said slowly. „But there is no reason why apes can’t catch it independently, too. We’re better protected from mosquito bites by our fur than the humans, but our hands and face are as naked as theirs, and if a mosquito bites there...“ He shrugged. „I strongly suggest you make drying out those marches your top priority in the coming years, Prefect. That will take care of this problem. In the meantime,“ he gestured towards his report, „you have that list of countermeasures to keep it under control somewhat.“

Kanla nodded. „I’ll keep that in mind.“ She reached for the speaking tube that was hanging from the end of her desk. „Send up Elpo.“

Galen hesitated. „As for the general... thank you for not blowing my cover.“

„Consider it payment for your services. I’d be grateful if you didn’t let yourself get caught by Urko,“ Kanla said dryly. „But if you do, I have no idea you’re not Kova.“

„I understand,“ Galen said softly. „I don’t intend for him to get me alive.“

They waited in silence until Elpo knocked at the door.

„Escort the doctor back to the village,“ Kanla instructed him. „Under no circumstances will you hand him over to one of the general’s men, or the general himself, understood?“

Elpo looked from her to Galen with big eyes, but saluted. „Yes, Prefect.“

„Marinate them in your tincture, doctor,“ Kanla said. „And maybe we’ll all be able to part on friendly terms in three days.“

„May the Mothers hear your plea,“ Galen muttered as he followed Elpo outside.

But somehow he doubted it.


	5. Chapter 5

When Burke led his men out into the marches the next morning, he suddenly found himself face to face with a chimp officer.

At about thirty yards to the officer’s right side, he spotted another one, and another one at about the same distance from that one.

They had run into a cordon.

The villagers were huddling at Burke’s back, making him the speaker of their little group. Ignoring his thudding heart, Burke peered up into the ape’s face. It wasn’t someone he remembered, so if he was lucky, the chimp wouldn’t know his voice, either.

Burke cleared his throat. „Excuse me, officer, but we need to pass. We’re draining-“

„You turn around and go back to your nest, frog,“ the chimp growled, and Burke’s heart stuttered at the slur. „You don’t get to spread your filth around.“

„We’re under orders from the doctor,“ Burke tried.

„And I’m under orders from General Urko himself.“ The ape leaned down to him and patted his gun. „He wrote them in here. Want me to read them to you?“

It was no use arguing with the chimp. He’d just get himself killed, and the villagers, too. He’d report back to Galen, let the apes sort it out among themselves. Burke turned his head to tell his troupe they had an unexpected day off-

„Let me talk to them. We know how to handle our humans around here.“

Burke whipped his head back. Another chimp had joined them - one of the local police, judging by his words. He waited, curious against his will.

The first chimp didn’t move. „I’ve got it under control, mate. It’s just humans.“

„Yeah, I can see that, but still, they’re our responsibility, so why don’t we just switch places for now?“ The other chimp didn’t budge, and Burke turned back fully. This was interesting.

Urko’s ape muttered something under his breath, but jerked his horse’s head around and rode off. The second ape stared down at Burke as if he was trying to pierce through his hood. „You’re one of the doctor’s humans?“

„Yeah.“ _...sir,_ but Burke just couldn’t force the word over his lips.

The ape didn’t seem to mind. „Send these humans back to the village.“

Slowly, Burke turned around a second time to face his hooded, huddled workforce. „You heard the officer. Go back, make yourselves useful somehow. Ask A... Tamas where you can help.“

The ape waited until they were out of earshot. „That medicine of yours is working, I heard.“

Burke ducked his head. „It’s working alright, but we also need to drain the marches, to dry out the breeding ground of the mosquitos...“

„Can’t help you there, boy, I’m not gonna question the general. They don’t pay me well enough to get my ass fried.“ The ape turned his head to throw a quick glance to both sides of the cordon. „But my friend has caught your fever, and he needs that medicine real quick.“

_Yeah, I hope he burns up and croaks, monkey._

On the other hand, if one of them died, it would only spell trouble for the villagers, and for themselves, trapped as they were. Burke carefully kept his voice flat. „I can bring you some from the doctor, if you wait here.“

„Nah, not here in broad daylight.“ The ape scrunched his nose and threw another nervous look down the cordon. Burke began to suspect that he was the only local among Urko’s thugs. „I’ll keep this post and let you slip through after dark... and get back, too. Can’t leave myself, you see?“

„Alright,“ Burke said slowly. „Who should I give it?“

„Name’s Tilan.“

Burke’s brows rose. The guy who had arrested him? Without Tilan, they’d be miles and miles away from this drama by now. And now it looked as if the damn chimp was dragging them under even more. He listened intently as the officer described the way to Tilan’s house. Burke had no intention of going himself - he’d probably not be able to resist the temptation to go by Urko’s lair - so he needed to be able to describe it to whoever he was going to send in his place. Omi, probably; the kid had taken a liking to him, and would do anything to impress him.

„Make sure you go as soon as the sun sets,“ the ape concluded his instructions. „Tilan’s got it pretty bad, and I heard the fever kills quickly.“

Burke nodded. „He’ll have it by midnight.“

„Good boy,“ the chimp said, and Burke was grateful for the hood concealing his face. Maybe he should wear it permanently; tell the apes he had leprosy, or something.

He just tipped the nonexistent rim of his hood and turned away to slouch back to the village. He’d probably have to empty bedpans now; digging ditches looked positively fabulous by comparison.

At the gate of the village, Burke threw a last glance over his shoulder.

Black uniforms were spread out as far as his eye reached. Urko had made sure their horses were all dark, too, and the effect was ominous - a black barrier enclosing the village, Burke was certain, from all sides. They were just standing there, silent, waiting.

Waiting for Urko’s signal.

Burke closed the gate behind him.

* * *

Zana calculated that if she ran the whole way to the village, snatched the medicine, and ran back without pause, she’d make it to Tilan’s bed just before the sun would peek over the horizon. She had tried to sneak out the night before, but had dropped behind her windowsill almost immediately again, as a troup of five or six of Urko’s baboons rode by her window. After that, she had sat watch the whole night, trying to determine a time when the black-clad traffic would finally thin out.

She had slept away almost the whole day after that, and only appeared for dinner with a stale apology on her lips. Inta hadn’t even listened; Zana and Forla had snacked on cold leftovers, while Inta had kept watch over a delirious Tilan. To be more precise, Zana had fed Lomax, the only one too young to understand what was going on, and tried to calm down a crying and frightened Forla; she had sneaked some cold meat and fruit back into her room afterwards, and wolfed down the food in mere moments. Then she had gone back to bed, to store up sleep for that desperate run for Tilan’s medicine in the hour of the wolf.

This, now, was her and Tilan’s last chance. If she chickened out again, Urko would barge into the village by morning to hang Dr. Kova, and then he’d find out what a treasure had fallen into his lap instead.

Zana urgently wished for a weapon. For a moment, she seriously pondered taking Tilan’s gun. Only the fact that she didn’t know how to load it in the first place made her decide against it. Besides, it would only hinder her while she was climbing down.

Her feet had just touched the cobblestones when a desperate wail from the upper window stopped her in her tracks. It took her a moment to recognize the voice, but simple logic told her that there was only one adult left in that house who had reason to cry out in anguish like that.

Inta.

Zana felt her heart thud against her ribs. This could only mean one thing.

... and it also would alarm whoever was riding patrol in town. She turned around to climb up into her room again before one of Urko’s men appeared around the corner. It was too late to run for Tilan’s medicine now. If only she had dared to sneak out yesterday!

Her foot stepped on something crunchy. It sounded brittle, like glass. Zana bent down to see what it was - it had felt peculiar under her sole, smooth and round... She carefully picked up the biggest shard and held it up into the moonlight.

It had been part of a bottle. She knew its form - it was one of their medicine bottles; she had cleaned them often enough... and she also knew the sharp, precise handwriting on the label.

_Tincture Of Worm Wood_

For some reason, Galen had fallen in love with Alan’s name for the plant. How had that bottle ended up on Tilan’s doorstep? And why was it broken? What had she missed, while she had been sleeping?

The sound of hoofbeats jerked her out of her confused reverie; Zana tucked the shard into the pocket of her robe and swung herself up the outer wall of Tilan’s house and back into her room.

She raced out into the corridor and into the couple’s bedroom. „Inta, sweet Mothers, what is wrong?“

Inta was tearing at her hair, her clothes, shaking Tilan’s shoulders. „He’s not waking up! He’s not waking up!“

For a moment, Zana stood frozen under the door, wishing herself far away. Then she stepped into the room, into the hot, stale air that smelled of sickness and death. „Let me have a look at him, Inta.“ She took the shaking woman by the shoulders and sat her into a chair. Inta hugged herself and looked up at her with huge, panicked eyes. „Is he... is he...?“

„I don’t know, Inta,“ Zana said, fighting to keep her voice calm. „I’ll have a look at him now.“

She took a deep breath and lit the candles on the nightstand before she bent over the still body on the bed. Tilan’s head had lolled to the side, and his eyes were only half closed. Zana looked down at his chest, but couldn’t detect any movement. She took out the broken bottle and held the glass under his nose, but no breath fogged the shiny surface. And her fingers couldn’t find a pulse.

Zana straightened and closed her eyes for a moment. This was bad. She had to get out of town immediately and warn Galen and their humans... they had to try and break through the cordon... perhaps she should take Tilan’s gun with her, after all...

But first, she had to tell Inta. Zana turned around and opened her mouth, but the truth was apparently written in her face, because after one look at her, Inta began to wail again. „Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no...“

„I’m so sorry, Inta,“ Zana said helplessly. „If only he had gotten my husband’s medicine in time...“

Inta didn’t react, swaying back and forth in the chair, hunched over so that her head was buried in her arms, muffling her cries. Zana eyed the shard in her hand. _Someone_ must’ve brought a bottle of medicine to Inta’s doorstep. Why hadn’t it found its way inside?

She quickly crossed the room and sank into a crouch at Inta’s chair. „Inta, listen to me,“ she said urgently. „I found this broken bottle outside your door.“ She trusted that Inta was too distraught to wonder what she had been doing in the yard at that time of night. „It’s my husband’s handwriting, and it contained the medicine against the fever. Inta!“ The woman’s wails had grown louder. „Inta! How did this bottle end up broken in the gutter in front of your house?“

Zana suppressed a frustrated growl when Inta refused to react. It didn’t matter anymore, anyway.

But when she rose, Forla stood in the door, clutching a stuffed horse. „What’s wrong with Daddy?“ she asked in a trembling voice.

Zana swallowed and looked to Inta for help, but the woman was completely submerged in her grief. „Forla... did someone come to your door this evening, to make a delivery?“ She was a coward, stalling to answer a little girl’s question like that.

Forla nodded, eyes huge and shining with tears. „A human knocked after dark, but mommy shouted at him and threw something after him, and he ran away.“

_Inta, you foolish woman!_

„We need to talk, Forla.“

Zana led her into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Forla stood before her, looking forlorn and on the verge of tears. Zana regarded her for a moment. „Do you want to sit in my lap?“

Forla nodded, tears now rolling down her cheeks; Zana drew her into her lap and held her close. The girl buried her face in her shoulder and sobbed. „I want my daddy!“

Zana laid her head on Forla’s, and stroked her back, and closed her eyes that were suddenly overflowing, too. „I know, Forla, I know...“

She hated herself when she finally lifted her head and pushed Forla a bit away so that she could catch her gaze, but the light in the kitchen was already graying, and her time was running out. „Forla... there is something really, really important that I have to tell you. I know you’re incredibly sad right now, but this is the only opportunity I have, and you _must listen!_ Can you do that?“

Forla rubbed her arms over her eyes and drew a shuddering breath. She nodded. Zana stroked her hair. „That human who knocked at your door - that was a human my husband sent to you. He brought you the medicine that would’ve saved your daddy’s life. But your mother didn’t even listen to him, and threw the bottle after him, and the bottle broke on the stones, and the medicine was lost.“

Forla stared at her with huge eyes, her mouth open, and Zana felt like a murderer herself. Wasn’t it enough that the girl had lost her father? Did she have to take away the love for her mother, too?

She pressed on. „I want you to remember that the death of your father is not the humans’ fault, Forla. Do you understand? This fever is spread by mosquitoes, not humans - and humans and apes both get the fever because they have been bitten by the mosquitos. Do you understand what I’m saying?“

Forla nodded. Zana took a deep breath. „You don’t have to tell your mother that. She wouldn’t believe you anyway. She thinks that humans are filthy, and that’s why she chased that human away.“ She leaned forward to stare into Forla’s eyes. „If she hadn’t believed those stories about filthy humans, that human could’ve given her the medicine for your daddy. I want _you_ to remember that. Do you think you can do that?“

Forla swallowed and nodded again.

Zana drew a deep breath. „You told me you want to be an animal doctor when you grow up. I hope you’ll remember that, too. You are brilliant, Forla, you’ll be a wonderful doctor. Don’t let anyone talk you out of that dream!“

She rose and let the girl slip from her lap. „I’m going to tell the prefect that your father... that she needs to come and help your mother,“ she lied. „In the meantime, I want you to go up and take care of little Lomax. He needs you, while your mother is... is occupied.“ She gave Forla a little push and watched her climb up to the living quarters. She stood there, mentally going through her things upstairs. There was nothing in there that she couldn’t go without; nothing that would tell Urko anything about her, or their destination.

Zana silently closed the front door behind her. Then she broke into a run.

Above her, the sky turned a smoky gray.

* * *

„What did you want to show me that couldn’t wait until morning, Ehme?“ Virdon tried not to sound cranky; but his day had been gruelling, and his leg was acting up again. He tiredly thought that he just should’ve sent the young woman away, instead of following her to the stockade in the middle of the night, but she had been so excited, almost giddy. The villagers’ circumstances were so dire now that seeing her smile in the weak light had roused his curiosity.

So he shouldn’t complain now.

Ehme didn’t seem to mind his exasperation. She led him deeper into the shadow of the stockade, behind the windowless wall of the barn-turned-hospital, where even the moonlight didn’t reach. „We need to be someplace where there’s no light.“

„Then we could’ve stayed as well inside,“ Virdon whispered, Ehme’s secrecy rubbing off on him.

„Too many people. I wanted to give you this without anyone watching.“

Virdon’s thoughts involuntarily flashed back to Pete’s sardonic interruption of their last meeting; Ehme’s wish for privacy was understandable.

... and worrying.

But she made no attempt to kiss him. Instead, she bent down to pick up something from the ground. When she turned back to him, she held stars in her hand.

Virdon blinked.

No, not stars, although they shone and sparkled as if they had tumbled from the sky and into her lap. They were... flowers, he realized as he bent down for a closer look. Some eerie mutation made the waxy petals shine with a pale, blue-white gleam. They had no scent, but with this kind of bioluminescence, they didn’t need scent to attract insects. Virdon speculated that they were luring fireflies that confused them with mating partners.

He straightened. „Those are lovely, Ehme. What do you call them?“

„Earthshine, or Mothers’ Tears.“ Ehme looked down at the flowers in her hands; the light emitted by them was strong enough to illuminate her face. She looked a bit embarrassed when she lifted her gaze to him. „I know that women don’t give flowers to men,“ she said, „but I thought they might remind you of the stars... since you came from there.“

Virdon took the flowers from her hands. „That’s... thank you.“

They stood there for a moment, neither of them knowing what to say. Virdon wondered where to put the flowers later. Maybe in one of their medicine bottles... Zana would know what to do with them.

„People are feeling better,“ Ehme said finally. „Nobody got the fever since we started to give out your medicine.“

Virdon smiled. „I’m glad the tincture helps. Soon this will be just a bad memory.“

„Yes.“ Ehme stared at the flowers in his hands. „Soon you will be on your way... with your friend, and your master.“

„Yes.“ He didn’t dare to tell her where they were going. Not with Urko being this close.

„Maybe I... could come with you?“ Ehme’s voice was thin and high all of a sudden, brittle with anxiety. „I could help with everything,“ she added hastily, when Virdon didn’t answer, „no matter what! I could wash all your clothes-“

„But you’re the healer’s apprentice,“ Virdon interrupted her gently. „You... what will your people do when the old woman dies? Who will take care of them? And you know how to battle the swamp fever now. That knowledge is worth preserving, and teaching to _your_ apprentice.“

„What if... what if you stay here?“

„I... I really can’t.“ As nice as Ehme was, and even if he wasn’t on a quest to find a way back to their own time... Virdon couldn’t imagine staying in this hopeless, tiny place, caged in between a hard cot in a dark hut, and back breaking work in the cotton fields. „Besides,“ he added, „what good would I be to your prefect? I can’t work my bread’s worth with this leg.“

„We’d find something for you.“ Ehme stepped closer and laid her hands on his chest, and Virdon’s heartbeat picked up, if from excitement or nervousness, he couldn’t say. „I’ve waited for someone like you, Tamas,“ Ehme whispered. „Someone who is caring, and gentle...“ she laughed. “... and handsome...“ Her hands slid up his chest and neck, caressing the hair at the nape of his neck, and he couldn’t do anything, his hands were tied up with the sparkling flowers he was forced to hold, and now she was exerting a soft pressure, pulling his head down to hers.

„Maybe I can make you reconsider,“ she whispered, and Virdon knew that she was about to kiss him, and he should pull away, she wouldn’t be able to force his head down...

Their lips met, and he closed his eyes and breathed in her scent, woodsmoke and mint, and was acutely aware how soft her lips were, soft and warm.

He was kissing her back. He was kissing her back, and he shouldn’t, he shouldn’t encourage her...

But she was, she was _there,_ she was _real,_ and she was so... eager, and soft, her whole body pressing against his now, her hands fisted in his hair, and her kiss now hungry, and demanding, and he just surrendered to that demand and let her in, and kissed her back, that fire now wandering down from his mouth into his chest and deeper, and he...

... he broke away almost panicked, gripping her by the shoulders and keeping her at arm’s length. His heart was thundering in his chest as if he had been running from Urko’s goons, and his breath came in short puffs. This was, this was all wrong. „I’m sorry, I’m... I’m sorry...“

„I’m not,“ Ehme gasped, just as out of breath as he was. „That was great.“

„It... was,“ he conceded, feeling incredibly guilty. „You are a, a wonderful kisser, Ehme, but, but, I can’t. I’m... I have a wife, and, I have children. I already belong to someone. I can’t be yours, Ehme, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you back...“

„You have...“ Ehme blinked. „But where...“ Then it dawned on her. „Back on that other world. Where you came from, with your star boat.“

„Yes.“

He was still gripping her shoulders, and so he could feel the tremble whispering through her, like a gust of wind sweeping through the branches. He gripped her harder, as if he could make it stop. „I swore an oath to my son... that I would find a way home, no matter what.“ He cast for a word, a concept, that she would understand, that she would accept. „I’m oath-bound, Ehme...“

She stepped back, and his hands slipped off her shoulders, and dropped to his sides. „But your boat was destroyed when you stranded here. You said it yourself; there is no way back. So why won’t you look for a woman here? Why not try to be happy here?“

„I’ll never be happy here,“ Virdon said, and he knew it was true. Wandering through this land was like walking down a long row of kennels, each village a cage with humans in it, and apes guarding the doors.

„Happiness is a choice,“ Ehme hissed. „You don’t _want_ to be happy here, because you don’t even want to _be_ here!“

„I want to be with my family, why should that be wrong?“ Virdon said, feeling the irrational urge to defend himself. „I have a daughter whose face I’ve never seen!“

„Because nobody in this world can repair your boat, or build you a new one,“ Ehme snapped, and Virdon thought he could hear tears in her voice. „You see how we live - do you think it’s different for humans anywhere? And if the apes could build boats like yours, they’d have come and put their boots on your necks a long time ago! No ape can stand a human to be free! No matter where we hide, the apes find us, and they kill us, and they only let the meek live, to serve them, and to teach their children how to serve!“

Virdon could hear her heavy breaths in the darkness; he wasn’t sure if she was panting or crying, and if she was crying, it might be out of fury as well as out of disappointment.

„You think you’re too good for me,“ Ehme hissed, and now he was certain that she was furious. „Because I’m not a star woman, but a bog woman. Well, Tamas, I’m afraid you’ll only find women like me on this world, but if you look up at the sky, all the stars are yours! Too bad they’ll be forever out of your reach!“

„I don’t think poorly of you, Ehme,“ Virdon said helplessly. „On the contrary...“

But Ehme just stepped back, and stepped back, into the milky light, and now he could see the tears rolling down her cheeks. He took a stumbling step towards her. „Ehme, please...“

But she turned away and ran, and he had dropped his crutch somewhere, dropped the flowers during that kiss, too, and he’d never catch up with her, lame and crippled, and what could he say that would make it better, would make her forget that kiss? He couldn’t forget it himself, her taste was still lingering on his lips, and Sally...

Virdon drew a deep breath, and rubbed a hand over his eyes. For a moment, for the duration of that kiss, he had completely forgotten about Sally.

At his feet, the faint glow of the dropped flowers was slowly fading.

* * *

Galen was jerked upright so brutally that he cried out and flailed, his dream dropping away under him and winking out like a candle.

„Wake up!“

Zana’s voice. Galen’s eyes snapped open, but for a moment, he couldn’t see anything but blurred shapes in the dim light of early morning. Someone had gripped him by his shirt and was now shaking him again. „Galen, for the love of the Mothers, _wake up! Urko’s coming!“_

„What, what... Zana?“ His sight cleared, and it was indeed Zana who was shaking him like an apple tree. Galen grabbed her wrists. „Stop that! What are you doing h-“

„Tilan just died,“ Zana hissed. „And his wife is wailing loud enough to rouse Urko from his bed without having to send a messenger! I’ve run the whole way from their house to your bed to warn you! We must leave immediately!“ She was panting; she had probably really run the whole way.

Galen blinked and tried to swallow, but his throat was parched, and his brain was foggy. He swung his legs out of bed and poured himself a mug of water, which he drank in one go.

Tilan was dead. Urko was on his way.

Urko was on his way!

His brain finally woke up to the meaning of Zana’s words. His fiancée had already thrown his doctor’s bag on the table and was beginning to stuff his instruments into it. Galen stumbled to his feet and caught her hand before she could break the stethoscope. „Let me do that.“

„Zana? What’s wrong?“ Peet’s voice from the curtain, rough and tense.

Galen didn’t bother to turn around. „Tilan died. Apparently, my medicine reached him too late...“

„It didn’t reach him at all,“ Zana snapped. „That foolish woman threw it after the human who brought it to her! Peet, find Alan, we need to leave right now! Urko can’t be far behind me, he’s on horseback, after all!“

„What about the people here?“

Now Galen did turn around, surprised to find Peet still standing in the entrance, hand clutching the curtain. „We can’t load them all into our wagon and drive off with them, Peet,“ he said, sharper than intended. „They need to hide somewhere in the marches. You can warn them - _after_ you’ve woken Alan.“

Peet looked as if he was about to say something, but merely let go of the curtain and vanished, to find Alan, hopefully.

Galen closed the straps of his doctor bag and grabbed his robe. „Do you have everything? The mortar and pistil, and the bottles?“ He threw a last, swiping glance at the room, but Zana had simply thrown everything into a wooden crate and was already brushing the curtain aside. Galen followed her outside, fighting the nagging feeling that he had forgotten something important. The room had been empty; he just wasn’t fond of leaving in such a haste.

Alan was waiting at the side of the wagon, leaning heavily on his crutch, while Peet was hitching up the horses. „We can’t leave these people to Urko and his thugs,“ Alan said without preamble. „He’ll kill them!“

„As I said to Peet, we also can’t load them all into our wagon,“ Galen snapped, and took the wooden crate from Zana’s hands to load it into the cart. „I understand your wish to help your fellow humans, Alan, but our lives are in danger, too, and we don’t have the time-“

„We don’t need to load everyone into the cart,“ Alan cut him off. „Just those who are still too weak to walk. And we need to wake the others, divide them into groups, determine some of them as group leaders, to lead their group into the marches and hide there, and only meet up after the danger is gone...“

„I’ll help you,“ Zana said promptly, and Galen suppressed a curse. „I’ll wake the healthy humans.“

„And I’ll get the bedridden,“ Alan nodded.

„No, you don’t, buddy,“ Peet cut in, and shared a look of complete understanding - and annoyance - with Galen. „Not with your leg. Sorry, Colonel, but you’re the leader of this little evac, not one of the runners. Sit your ass on the driver’s seat and prepare for a quick liftoff. And you,“ he pointed at Zana, „will sit your _pregnant_ ass on the passenger seat!“

Peet strode towards Galen, while Alan helped Zana to climb up onto the wooden seat. „Kick them out of their beds,“ he murmured, „or better, kick one of them out of bed and tell them what’s what, and to wake the others. I’ll start loading up the invalids in there.“ He nodded towards the barn.

„This will cost us precious time,“ Galen hissed, „which may very well cost us our _lives.“_

Peet shrugged. „Then you better get moving, doc.“ He patted Galen’s shoulder in passing, and Galen muttered a curse and gingerly hop-sprinted across the muddy village square to wake the healer and her apprentice - the only persons with authority he had met during their stay.

The hut was tiny, and dark, and stuffy, and he felt an intense aversion to step over the threshold. „Ehme? Ehme, it’s me, Dr. Kova! Are you in there?“

After a moment, he heard cloth rustling, and the young woman appeared in the fleck of pale light that had found its way into the hut. Galen hastily explained what had happened, and her eyes went wide with panic. She drew a shaky breath. „What... what shall we do, Doctor?“

„Wake everyone, divide them into groups, decide who are the group's leaders, and have them lead their group into the marches to hide there,“ Galen repeated Alan’s instructions. „You know the land, Ehme, much better than the general does. You can go where the horses can’t. You can... you can lead them into the bog, never to be found again.“ He felt like a murderer saying it. But was it murder to lead a murderer to his death?

Ehme nodded, a hard glint in her eye. „I can do that. I know where the ground is treacherous.“

„You can’t do it alone,“ Galen warned her. „There are too many of them, and they’re armed.“ He felt ridiculous for pointing it out to her; if humans knew one thing, it was to fear an ape’s gun. „Now... off you go, and wake the others. Urko can be here any moment now.“

He turned away and picked his way back across the squishy yard, to the barn. The door stood wide open, but none of the patients was yet inside the cart, as far as he could see. He peeked into the barn; Peet was rousing the dazed humans; there were only half a dozen or so left.

„Here.“ Peet dumped a little girl into his arms, hot and heavy, and still not quite awake. „The sooner we’re finished here, the better.“

Six people. Six grown humans. Galen consciously refused to calculate how the additional weight would slow down their cart, and turned around to climb into the cart with the little human in his arms. And where in the world should he put her? Zana’s cot, he decided. He wrapped her blanket around the shivering child and turned away to help whichever human Peet led to the cart to climb inside. The other humans were slowly appearing in the doorways of their huts, huddling together in confusion and fear. Ehme, Omi, and some others were dragging them by their sleeves, positioning them into groups.

Peet appeared in the barn door, supporting an older woman who took slow, swaying steps towards their wagon. Galen tried not to drum his fingers on the tailboard as they crawled towards him.

A cry from many throats whipped his head around. On the driver’s seat, Alan cursed.

Burning torches rose over the stockade, hovered in the gray morning air like fiery birds of prey for a moment, and swooped down on the thatched roofs, that lit up immediately. Galen stared at the flames, wondering how they could catch fire so eagerly in this humid weather.

A loud boom tore his gaze away from the inferno. The gate of the stockade sprang open, and a black cloud swept in, horses already in full gallop. The humans cried out and bolted in all directions, their instructions for an ordered retreat forgotten. The clump of riders dissolved, as the apes took up pursuit. Galen just hoped that the billowing smoke would provide the fleeing humans with a bit of cover-

Shots cracked. The wagon shook, as their horses began to panic. From the front of the wagon, Galen heard Alan send Zana into the back. He threw a hasty look over his shoulder and saw her crouch in the footwell, her arms around the little girl. When he turned his head back again to look out into the yard, Peet was no longer on his way to them. He was staring across the yard, the old woman crumpled lifelessly at his feet.

Under the gate, a white horse, nervously dancing in place. Its rider had been reloading his gun, but was frozen in mid-motion, staring back at Peet.

Urko.


	6. Chapter 6

The house smelled of death - not the good, metallic smell of blood, or the meaty, steamy smell of guts bared to the morning air, but the stale, sick smell of swamp fever. Urko fought to keep his face neutral. What a pitiful way to go for an officer of his force. True, he hadn’t known the man personally, but as Chief General, everyone wearing the uniform was his. And he’d wish a warrior’s death for each and everyone of them.

Of course, that meant they’d need a war. And since ape wasn’t allowed to kill ape - at least not without declaring them to be ‘not an ape’ first, which was something that took time, and court sessions - they were confined to stomp out the human pests, which didn’t truly count as warfare; it was more like culling herds, or weeding crops. Unsatisfying, but what could you do?

At least Tilan had given him free reins with these humans now. Good man.

„I’m sorry for your loss, Inta,“ he growled. The Chimp was huddled in her chair, looking miserable and disheveled. If he ever fell in battle, Elta would stay dignified. He was pretty sure that she’d take care to make herself presentable before she received any visitors, but he’d instruct her about that when he returned, just in case.

„It’s unfortunate that your prefect chose to cuddle the humans instead of clubbing them, as I suggested,“ he continued, and laid a hand on the Chimp’s hunched shoulder. „I’ll make sure to clean out that nest of filth now. Even if it’s too late for your poor husband, at least you and your children will be safe.“ He looked up and smiled at the little girl peeking around the doorpost.

„Don’t you worry, little one, me and my men will go now and make sure the humans can’t harm you and your brother anymore.“

The child scowled fiercely at him, but didn’t say a word. Behind him, the Chimp sniffed, an ugly, wet sound, and straightened. „Forla! Be polite, and greet the general!“

„No!“ The girl stuck out her tongue to him and vanished. Her naked feet pattered down the corridor.

Urko chuckled. He hadn’t been keen on playing nice with that family any longer, anyway. He had seen the dead officer with his own eyes, had his widow confirm that the man had, in fact, died of the human fever, and that was that. He turned to his lieutenant. „You got everything? Let’s go then.“

„Will you inform the prefect?“ Nelva wanted to know as they mounted their horses.

„No. She’ll learn of that officer’s death as soon as that woman gets her wits together. I know,“ he smiled at his second-in-command. „That could take a while. Not my problem. I told her what I’ll do if the plague jumps to apes, and I brought you as witness. The High Council will back my decision, there’s nothing old Kanla can do about that.“ He took up the reins. „Let’s spill some blood, old friend.“

Nelva just shook his head, but spurred on his horse into a quick trot behind him. He left Urko shortly afterwards to alert the rest of their platoon, while Urko let his horse fall into a canter as soon as he was outside the gate. He had already positioned his people around the human den, so that none of them could scurry away; he had known that the opportunity would come to cleanse this place with fire.

Urko’s smile widened; he gave his horse the reins, and the stallion fell into a swift gallop. Urko's heart began to sing, relishing the speed, the wind in his face, and the anticipation of the terror he was about to strike into the hearts of the humans.

Terror and blood. So much blood. He could almost taste it. He _would_ taste it; it was his little ritual after each mission, his own little sacrifice to the Mothers. Nobody knew it but him, but the Mothers loved the taste of blood.

They told him so every time.

He didn’t bother to stop when he reached the cordon, just yelled the order to open the village gate, and to fire at will. His men charged, impatient to get into the action themselves, and the gate sprang open to their battering ram like the eager thighs of a Chimp hussy.

The men swarmed through the gate and into the village square, firing at the humans who had for some reason assembled outside. The crowd broke apart at once, humans racing blindly in all directions, with the apes in hot pursuit. Shots cracked, and the first humans fell into the mud. The huts were ablaze from the burning torches his men had catapulted over the stockade, and the smoke of wet reeds was hanging between their walls like billowing blankets, providing the vermin with temporary cover.

Didn’t matter - the stockade was enclosing them from all sides, and in the unlikely event that some of them managed to burrow through, there were more of his men waiting outside, their rifles ready. And he was guarding the only exit in that stockade. Urko reined in his mount, took aim, and fired at a slowly moving couple. One of them fell down like a heap of old clothes. Their companion didn’t run, as Urko had expected. They just stood there as if frozen to the spot, head turning towards him like vigilant deer.

„It’s no fun if you make it that easy, frog,“ Urko murmured, and reloaded.

Then the breeze lifted the smoke for a moment, and he froze.

* * *

For a moment, the smoke lifted, and Burke could see him. The dark face, high helmet, eyes gleaming with bloodlust and recognition. And for a moment, the only thought that stood out in his mind was that his own face was burned into Urko’s memory as clearly as the gorilla’s visage was burned into his. All humans might look alike to the general, but not him. Nor Al. They were _persons_ now, with names, and a very personal story attached to them.

Then Urko jerked the lever back and lifted the carbine to his shoulder, and Burke turned and sprinted behind the wagon. A shot cracked and the bullet buried itself into the wood of the barn wall where his head had been a moment before.

Burke raced along the length of the cart towards the front bench, thumping his fist against the wooden planks of the frame. „Go, go, go! Urko’s here!“ He swung himself up on the seat and shoved Virdon’s shoulder, hard. „You hear me? He’s here!“

Virdon was fighting to keep the horses from bolting; they were dancing and jerking their heads up, nervous from the smoke and the chaos around them. Virdon swore softly under his breath and pulled at the lines. „The patients...“

„Forget about them,“ Burke shouted. Another shot cracked, and one of their horses whinnied, a shockingly loud yell. „He fired at me, he knows we’re here, an’ if he shoots our horses, we’re done for!“ He jumped into the wagon and fell on his knees when the cart shot forward with a jerk. Another shot, and the bullet ripped through the cover of their wagon. To his right, Zana dove down into the footwell, burying little Arin under her to protect her from ricochets.

If the damn monkeys continued to empty their magazines at that speed, they’d have run out of ammo by the time he’d get to his gun. Burke began to crawl to his bedroll, trying to duck out of the way of falling bottles, drawers, and Galen’s heavy brass mortar. Behind him, Al was shouting, either trying to urge on the horses, or to calm them, Burke couldn’t say. The cart was skidding into a hard turn, pressing all of them against the side of the wagon. Something crashed and splintered on the floor behind him, and Zana cried out. „The leeches!“

 _Too bad for the little buggers._ Burke couldn’t say he felt especially sorry for them.

He finally reached his bedroll, where he had stashed away Lucy, or Betsy, he still hadn’t decided on a name. He had prepared, just as he had told Al - she was fully loaded, ready to split some ape skulls. He crept on towards the tail end of the cart, where Galen was lying, keeping his head safely below the plank. The ape turned his head to him and froze, eyes widening at the sight of the weapon in his hand.

For a moment, Burke froze, too, as they locked eyes, half expecting Galen to wrest it from him.

„How many rounds do you have?“ Galen finally said.

Burke inhaled. „Six bullets fit into the magazine.“ It was inside the stock, a curious construction. „I got five rounds, including the one I already loaded.“ He shrugged. „Guess the former owner didn’t expect to fight a war.“ He moved the lever to load the first bullet. The gun made a ratcheting sound. This was like driving stick shift - totally different feeling.

So much more satisfying than automatic.

The wagon made another hard turn, and now they were racing back towards the gate, the only way out for their cart. Burke dropped his original plan, struggled to his feet and stumbled back to Virdon, who was now definitely urging on their horses into a full gallop. Unfortunately, both the weight of their wagon, and the deep mud of the village square, were slowing them down. Firing on them was like firing on a slow sailing barn door. Burke threw a quick glance at Virdon’s face, pale and tense. Time to make target practice a little more hazardous for the damn monkeys.

He steadied himself against one of the wooden bows that held up the cover, and swung his legs out on the passenger seat. „Mind if I’m riding shotgun?“ he yelled at Virdon, who didn’t acknowledge him. Burke grinned and yanked the gun to his shoulder. He fired at a rider coming towards them, and though he missed, the ape reacted immediately, tearing hard at the reins of his horse and veering off between the huts.

Burke pushed the lever forward, and the shell jumped out; back again, and they were ready for the next shot.

The gate came into view, and in the middle of the gate, Urko’s white horse, weaving between the posts, barring the way. Virdon smacked the lines on the horses’ backs, yelling at them to run, run, and Urko stared at Burke over the barrel of his gun, taking aim.

For a moment, Burke could see his face clearly, as if the gorilla was only an arm’s length away.

Then Urko fired, and the bullet tore through the canvas of the wagon, missing Burke’s head so narrowly that he could feel its heat grazing his temple. At that distance, aiming at a moving target, fired from a prancing horse, it was a frighteningly good shot.

Urko reloaded.

Burke fired at his horse.

The animal broke down like a felled tree, legs folding all at once. Urko threw his arms up to keep balance, but was buried under its torso; probably hadn’t been quick enough to get his feet out of the stirrups. Their wagon thundered past him, jumping when the wheels rolled over the dead horse’s legs. Something heavy crashed to the floor behind Burke, but he hadn’t time to turn his head and look. He reloaded and fired at the nearest horse, and the animal reared and threw off his rider.

„You okay back there?“ Virdon shouted. He was still urging on the horses, who had now found firmer ground under their hooves, and were struggling to gain speed, their heads weaving up and down like pistons.

Riders were now converging on them from both sides, firing at them all at once, and whatever Zana or Galen were answering was drowned out by the staccato of gunfire. The cover of their wagon shuddered under the assault. One of their horses shrieked, Tala, a long red streak appearing on her croup. „For the love of God, keep your heads down,“ Virdon yelled. He smacked the lines on the horses’ backs once more. The wagon stumbled on, wheels crunching and jumping over the stones buried in the road.

They were drawing the apes’ attention and firepower to themselves, Burke thought, as he fired another shot and saw a horse break down, taking its rider with it. Good for Omi and his folks, but hell, the apes only needed to get lucky once, shoot one of their horses...

He reloaded. Three more shots before he had to refill the gun’s magazine. A second gun would’ve come in handy, one of the apes reloading it while he continued to take out the guards' horses...

The ape who was barring the road ahead of them jerked his horse around and galloped off into the marches. Burke fired at his comrade who was catching up with them, racing parallel to the cart, and the ape fell off the horse, that now veered off into the marches, away from them.

Two more shots. Burke climbed over the backrest into the wagon and stumbled towards the tail end. Another bullet whipped past him, tearing a hole into the wagon’s cover, and he fell to his knees and crawled the rest of the way.

„There are at least two dozen riders,“ Galen yelped, when Burke reached him. „You’d need to hit every single horse, if we want to have a chance of shaking them off!“

Two bullets in the gun, twenty-four in his pockets. It could work out.

He just couldn’t miss even once.

_Just don’t think about it. It’s like doing a tailslide..._

He pressed the stock to his shoulder and stopped thinking.

* * *

Blood was running down Tala’s flank, but the horse wasn’t lame, as far as Virdon could see from the driver’s seat. It was just a graze, he tried to reassure himself, nothing to slow them down. Adrenaline was a great pain killer.

They were racing down the cart track that had brought them to the village, back towards Trion. It was the wrong direction, leading them directly to the rest of Urko’s troupe, and maybe even Kanla’s, but there was no chance to turn the wagon around, no smaller paths branching off, and Virdon felt his despair burn brighter in his chest with every passing field. The horses wouldn’t be able to keep up this speed for much longer, not with the weight of the wagon behind them, not on this muddy cart track...

„There’s a path crossing our track ahead of us!“

Virdon flinched and threw a quick glance over his shoulder. Zana had crawled up to him and was now peering over the backrest.

„There!“ Zana pointed, and Virdon reined in the horses, slowed them to a trot so they wouldn’t miss the intersection. It wouldn’t help them to shake off their pursuers; only Pete’s gun could do that. Not that Virdon wasn’t grateful that he had it, but how in the world had he got it? And _when?_

Virdon eased the horses into the crossing; the shots behind him came more rapidly, Pete trying to keep the apes off their backs to compensate for their slowness, and Virdon smacked the lines on the horses’ backs again, wishing for a whip for once. „Go, go!“ The horses jerked their heads and fell into a slow trot.

They wouldn’t get away. Virdon felt his throat constrict with despair and helpless rage. To end like this...

„Al, get the damn horses moving, I need to fill that magazin again!“

„I’m doing my best,“ Virdon bellowed, „they’re too tired, the wagon is too heavy...“

„Then we gotta jump! I’m not gonna get caught ‘cause I didn’t leave the car in time!“ Virdon heard Burke quickly pump the lever; a shot cracked, then another. A horse yelled in the distance, a sound that made Virdon’s heart ache.

„Right now, we’re still faster with the cart than on foot,“ Galen pointed out from somewhere in the footwell. Virdon couldn’t blame him for wanting to stay there. Another quick glance showed him that the ape was collecting the escaped leeches into his mortar.

„How many left?“ he yelled back.

„More than I have bullets,“ came Burke’s answer.

They couldn’t shake them off, they couldn’t kill them all. There had to be another way out of this... Virdon tried to focus on the way ahead, tried to leave security to Burke and his gun, tried to _think,_ think of a strategy, a solution...

„Zana,“ he shouted without turning his head. „We need to lose this cart sooner or later. Start getting everything we can possibly take with us into our backpacks.“

„What about the little girl?“ Zana’s hands were still gripping the backrest; from the corner of his eyes, Virdon saw that her knuckles were white. A bullet hit the side of the wagon and ricocheted off with a howl, and she gripped the board so hard that Virdon could’ve sworn her fingertips were digging _into_ the wood now.

„We’ll take her with us, drop her off in one of the villages,“ he said quickly. „Now hurry, I don’t know how long the horses can keep this up!“ The hands vanished from the edge of his vision, and he focused on the horses again. Tala was beginning to stumble, not much, but that could change quickly.

Another path branched off to their right, just wide enough for one cart, and Virdon steered the horses on it, hoping to force the apes to stay on that track instead of trying to overtake them.

They had left the cultivated patch of land and were racing into the marches. To both sides of the path, the morning sun gleamed on puddles of water. If the apes knew what was good for them, they’d try to stay on the path as much as possible. The ground was treacherous; sometimes, those puddles were deeper than a horse’s height.

Splintering wood and water splashing told him that not everyone was aware of those dangers. Burke was still shooting, keeping their pursuers at a distance, but they were still at their tail.

„Do you have everything, Zana?“

„I have... our bedrolls, clothes, food, Galen has his book...“ Ah yes, the mysterious book. Virdon shook his head. “... kettle, flint and steel, water bottles...“ Zana counted off, probably more for her own sake than his.

„I’m taking my doctor’s bag, the seal and the scrolls,“ Galen huffed. Paper was rustling as he began to stuff them into another bag. „And the surgical instruments, too.“

„We don’t need that stuff anymore, and it’ll just weigh us down,“ Virdon argued, keeping his eye on the path.

„I am optimistic that we’ll be able to get out of this alive.“ Galen was stumbling around in the wagon, opening and closing the drawers of their medicine cabinets. Virdon empathized with him - the wagon had become a home for all of them, and its acquisition had cost almost all of Galen’s money. „I intend to take up a veterinary practice as Dr. Kova again, once we’re north of the mountains,“ Galen continued, „and I don’t know if they even sell these things there. Most students buy their equipment in the City and take it home with them.“

The shots had died down. Virdon dared to turn around in his seat to see what was happening behind him. Galen and Zana were both packing as much of the wagon’s interior as possible into bags, while Burke was kneeling at the back of the cart, gun still at his shoulder. The path behind them was empty, as far as he was able to see from his position. „Pete, where are those apes?“ Virdon didn’t believe for a second that they had shaken them off.

„Staying out of range,“ Burke answered without turning his head. „Fucking monkeys realized they just need to keep track of us until the horses break down.“

„We’ll take the horses, too,“ Galen said in a voice that brooked no argument. „They can carry a lot of this equipment.“

„Then where’s the advantage?“ Burke growled. „The weight will slow us down, no matter if they have to pull or carry it.“

„It will still be a lot less without the weight of the wagon itself, and us,“ Galen argued, and Burke just huffed, but didn’t say anything anymore.

Puddles of water were now appearing on the path itself, too. „We’ll get off here,“ Virdon decided. It wouldn’t be too long before they were stuck in the mud, anyway. He urged the horses on for another few yards, between a thicket of willows to both sides of the track. „Galen, your knife.“

He cut the horses’ harnesses, while the apes hauled their bags out of the front of the wagon; Zana handed the little girl to Galen and strapped on her backpack; Burke was still keeping position at the back of the cart. He fired another shot at the first ape rounding the bend, and the officer was ripped off his horse, head jerked back by the force of the bullet whipping through his skull.

Burke worked the lever once more. „Are you done up there already? I’m running out of ammo!“

Virdon hastily secured the bags on the horses’ backs with the leather strips from the harness. „We’re done. Let’s go!“

The wagon blocking the path - and Burke’s last shot - would give them a headstart of maybe a minute or so; they had to leave the path as soon as possible, and try to cover their horses’ tracks by wading through the mosquito-infested puddles. Virdon hoped that Galen had packed their wormwood tincture, too.

They jogged through the willow thicket, the horses snorting and panting. Virdon threw a last glance back at their abandoned wagon, its cover a brilliant white in the morning sun. It was ripped and torn, destroyed by the apes’ bullets.

He sighed and tugged at Tala’s reins.

* * *

They were making too much noise, Zana thought, splashing and crashing through the thickets, but the path had vanished in mere moments, and the willows and poplars and the undergrowth between them at least shielded them from prying eyes. Alan was leading them onward as if he knew where he wanted to go, but his crutch was no help in the soft and treacherous underground, and after a short while, he stopped, and waved for Galen to take the lead. His face was red from the heat, and maybe from pain, as he handed Galen the reins of their wounded horse.

„Do you want to ride?“ Galen asked.

Alan shook his head. „I’d just be more visible, and betray our position. And poor Tala is injured, I’ll... I’ll just grab Apache’s mane and use him as a crutch.“ He hobbled back to Zana, who was holding the reins of their second horse. Peet was still behind them, watching and listening for their pursuers, his weapon ready. He looked disturbingly in his element.

„How are you holding up?“ Alan asked in a low voice as he passed her.

„I’m fine, Alan, don’t worry.“ During their journey from the City to Trion, Zana had often walked ahead or behind the wagon, to make sure she stayed fit. After she had acquired blisters on her city feet when they had fled for the first time, she had vowed to stay in shape for the rest of their journey.

Alan just nodded and raised his arm to grab the gelding’s withers. Then he froze, his eyes fixed on a point behind her.

Urko! But how had Peet not noticed...

„I’m glad you made it out alive,“ Alan said, visibly relieved, and Zana told her thundering heart to stop being so stupid, and turned around.

A small group of humans had emerged from the undergrowth, and from Alan’s reaction, they were from the village they had tried to help against the fever. They were led by a young female with dark hair and eyes, and a stern expression.

Alan dropped his hand, and made a stumbling step towards the group. „Ehme.“

The woman’s frown deepened. Then she quickly crossed the clearing and hugged him tightly, and didn’t let go for long moments. Alan hugged her back just as enthusiastically, and Zana wondered what she had missed.

Finally, it was Alan who broke the embrace. „We must go, Ehme,“ he said hoarsely. „The apes are hot on our tail, and they want to kill us.“

The woman shook her head in confusion. „But you only tried to help us. Why would they want to kill you?“

„It’s... it’s a long story.“ Alan quickly turned away and took the little girl from Galen’s arms. „We could save her from the hospital. I don’t know what became of the others...“ Ehme took the girl, and Alan stroked the child’s hair; he looked sad, and Zana wondered if he was thinking of his own daughter, the child he had never seen.

„So you’re a wanted man,“ Ehme said, still looking at him.

Alan smiled wryly and ducked his head. „We all are. But we did nothing wrong, you have to believe me.“

Ehme sighed, and smiled. „Of course I believe you, Tamas. You’re a good man. A very stupid man, but a good man. You need to lose these hunters, quickly.“ She turned and beckoned one of the villagers to come to her side. „Omi will show you a way through the swamp that the apes can’t go - not without a guide, anyway. You’ll come out in the cursed zone, though...“

„That’s not a problem,“ Alan assured her quickly. „Everything is better than falling into the hands of those apes.“

The woman laid her hand on his cheek. „I’ll think often of you, Tamas. I’ll pray to the Mothers that they’ll keep you safe... you and your friends.“

Alan made a move as if to put his hand on hers, but she turned away quickly, and vanished into the thicket, taking the rest of the humans with her. A few shivering branches were the only indicators that the villagers had been there a moment ago; they moved as silently as deer.

For a moment, everyone just stood there, frozen by the unforeseen encounter; then Alan straightened and gestured for the boy to lead the way. Galen followed him with the mare; then it was Zana’s turn, and she tugged at the rope of the other horse, the one that Peet had named A-pah-chee... just to see her struggle with the name, she was sure... and Alan held on to the animal’s mane and limped along. Peet came last, and she couldn’t see him, which worried her more than it should have.

Alan was right behind her, and she could feel the heat radiating from his body, smell his sweat, and hear his laboured breaths. He was still not really healed, Zana realized; and now they didn’t have the wagon anymore. They were plodding through a swamp, and if they made it out of it alive, they’d end up in the deserted wasteland of a Forbidden Zone.

_Will this ever end?_

More importantly, would it ever end _well_ for them?

Zana kept her gaze on the swishing tail of the mare in front of her, trying to shut out the high whirring of the mosquitos all around them, trying to ignore the sun’s fire burning on her head and shoulders, trying to shut out all thoughts of tomorrow, or even the next moment.

She only had the next step in front of her. And the next. And the next.

_If I only have moments to live, shouldn’t I enjoy the one that I have right now?_

She looked up. The sky was a brilliant azure, the backlit leaves glowing as if illuminated from within. The puddles of water around them were reflecting the sky as if pieces of it had broken out and fallen to the ground.

Zana inhaled deeply. It was a beautiful day. She was here with her friends, and her beloved. This was hers, all of it, even that scrawny human boy was hers, in this moment. Something broke and melted inside her, and she loved them all with a fierceness that equaled the brilliance of the sun. They were creatures of the marches now, small and silent, slipping away on secret paths that no guard would ever find.

And Zana knew that this time, all would end well.


	7. Chapter 7

**2082**

„You know, this isn’t how I envisioned my prom night.“

Gina’s face was hidden in the darkness, and Chris couldn’t decide if that undertone in her voice was one of annyance or amusement. He didn’t come to a final conclusion; Gina had a talent for delivering her blows in a deadpan way that always left him floundering. He was sure she was doing it on purpose.

„Well, we did all the things - drank their non-alcoholic punch, danced, had photos made...“ _He_ had a defensive undertone in his voice; he could hear it himself. „And I didn’t know any of these people. Who _were_ these people?“

„They’re the class of ’82,“ Gina said dryly. „Our class mates.“

„About ten percent of our courses required physical presence,“ Chris scoffed. „So you can hardly call us ‘mates’.“

„Well, I knew most of them,“ Gina said lightly. „You know, there’s something called ‘talking to people’ before and after those presence courses, or meeting to study together, or just hang out together... _socializing_. You should try it some time.“

„Yeah, well, I hardly see the point now,“ Chris muttered. „School’s out for good.“

„Maybe, but the prom wasn’t over yet,“ Gina pointed out. „And do you have any idea how much that dress and the hair, and makeup and... _everything_. How expensive that was?“

Chris was pretty sure by now that she was annoyed. He gripped the steering wheel harder. The car drove on autopilot, but just for this night, he wanted to pretend that he was the driver. „We can go back, if you want...“

Gina turned around in her seat until she fully faced him. Chris kept his hands on the wheel and stared straight ahead. The road was a pale cutout from the night around them, racing towards him and vanishing under the hood of his car.

„Well, that depends on where we’re going now,“ Gina was saying. „If you came up with something more spectacular, I could forgive you. Maybe.“

Chris relaxed his fingers and smiled. „I told you, it’s a surprise. You can tell me if it’s more spectacular when we’re there.“

When they did finally roll into the parking lot, the doubts were back in full foce. Yes, _he_ found the sight spectacular, and he never missed coming out here year after year, but maybe Gina wouldn’t think so...

Well. Only one way to find out, right? With a deep breath, Chris climbed out of the car, and went to open the passenger door for Gina. She gathered the skirt of her dress with one hand, and accepted his help with the other, and he used the opportunity to pull her close for a moment.

She looked up to him, and his eyes had adapted enough to the starlight to see that she was smiling. „Well, this is an impressive parking lot...“

He grinned back. „We’re not there yet, Miss Impatience. Come on.“

The beach started right behind the parking lot, and Gina took her shoes off - so that the sand wouldn’t ruin them, Chris supposed. He gave her his jacket when she shivered - it was already pretty hot during the day in late April, but the nights were still cold.

„Watching the stars, Mr. Virdon?“ Gina said, sounding amused, when they finally settled down in the dunes.

„They’re much better than the ones you’d have seen after drinking the punch,“ Chris said. „I saw some guy spike it...“

„I think I’d have a better view if I didn’t freeze to death here, all on my own,“ Gina said suggestively, and snuggled up to him. He slung his arms around her and for a long while, just enjoyed the sensation of her warm body against his.

„So, when does the show begin?“ Gina asked finally.

„It’s already begun,“ Chris murmured, without lifting his chin from her head. „Look south-east, there,“ he pointed. „Shooting stars, all for you. The Lyrids.“

They weren’t as spectacular as he had hoped; only now and then one of them flashed across the sky, but when they did, they dragged a satisfyingly long tail behind them, clearly visible even to Gina’s untrained eye.

„Ooh,“ she said, and then slightly turned around in his arms. „And all for me? But that wouldn’t have been _necessary...“_

Chris laughed and gave her a quick kiss on the nose. Not for the first time, he wished for a witty comeback to her teasing. Instead, he just said, „Dad and I came out here to watch the meteor showers whenever he was at home. The Perseids, the Leonids...“

He could feel her sigh, her ribs moving against his. „Can we have a single thing that is not about your father, for a change?“

„Sorry,“ he mumbled, but couldn’t help feeling slightly miffed. This _had_ been his and Dad’s ‘thing’ before it had become his and Gina’s... well, it wasn’t a thing yet, but it could become one. Maybe.

Gina turned back to lean against him, and for a while they watched the Lyrids silently shooting across the sky. But the mood was gone. Somehow, he had managed to spoil Gina’s prom night... twice.

„I’m sorry,“ he murmured again, into her hair, and she patted his knee in response.

„It’s okay. It’s just... this really _is_ a special day. School years are over. A whole...“ She stretched her arms out, hands apart, as if she was measuring an invisible fish. A spectacular catch. „A huge chunk of our life has ended. We’re about to go and conquer the world!“

Chris snorted, and she joined his laughter. „Okay, so maybe not conquering a lot of world.“ She twisted around to face him, and he instantly missed the warmth she had radiated against him. „But this is the last day of our old life, and there’s this whole lot of future waiting for us. And it’s about _us,_ Chris, not about our parents. Not about the past. Have you ever thought about what you’ll be doing after school?“

It was a question that had been strangely absent from his conversations with his mother. After that day when she had cried into his chest in their kitchen, Mom had tried to talk him out of his commitment for the _Daedalus_ project. God, they’d had millions of discussions at that kitchen table.

At some point during the last year, though, she had given up. Now she talked just about surface things, like the weather, or Helen’s school projects, or the neighbours... And he should’ve felt triumphant. He’d won, he’d stay on the project, and he’d go into space one day.

But instead he had felt punished. As if he wasn’t worth real talk anymore. As if he had defected to the enemy, and now his mother and his sister had closed ranks, and all the real talk, and the real closeness happened between them, and he was an outsider.

Gina was still waiting for an answer.

Chris shrugged. „Keep on doing what I’m doing, I guess. ANSA has been cutting the budget for our project yet again, and we need to find some private sponsors to...“

„Chris,“ Gina interrupted him. „Have you never thought about getting a formal education? You’re good enough... no, you’re _brilliant_ enough - every university would accept you. You can’t stay with Hasslein forever! Once his project his through, you’ll be on the streets empty-handed. Where do you want to work after that, without a degree?“

„Once that project is through, I’ll be up there,“ he pointed to the sky, „looking for the crew of the _Icarus,_ just like I said I would.“

„What if you don’t find them?“ Gina challenged him. „This search and rescue mission will have a time-frame, and if you haven’t found them by then, they’ll call you back. What are you going to do then?“

She didn’t wait for his answer. „Or what if you find them, but they’re dead?“

„Then we’ll bring them home for a proper burial,“ Chris said quietly.

But Gina wasn’t satisfied. „And then? With no degree, no credentials, do you really think ANSA will give you another, unrelated project?“

„Apart from Hasslein himself, I’m the one who knows his theory, and the Hasslein drive best,“ Chris reminded her. „Trust me, ANSA _will_ give me another job. They need the drive for the colony ships.“

Gina let out a frustrated groan and jumped to her feet. „You just told me they cut the budget again, Chris! They don’t believe in your master’s grand plan, and-“

„Cut it out!“ Chris jumped to his feet himself. „You’re out of line, Gina!“

She was silent for a moment. Behind her, the Lyrids were silently rushing through the void.

„I’m going to California,“ she said.

Chris blinked.

„Why?“ he asked when he had found his voice again.

„I was accepted at San Diego State University. You knew I wanted to study biology.“

„Yeah, but... why not here?“ This was so totally out of the blue. Chris tried to remember if Gina had ever mentioned going away for her studies, and came up blank.

„They have a really good program,“ Gina said. „They specialize in bioengineering, and molecular biology, and... and I need to get away from this for a while, Chris.“ She waved her arm at the beach.

„From this,“ Chris repeated slowly. „From me, you mean.“

Gina sighed, and hugged herself, and looked down the beach. „You’re obsessed,“ she said at last, her voice so low that he almost didn’t hear her over the surf. „Ever since I met you that day. I was always an afterthought, and don’t get me wrong, Chris, in the beginning, that was completely okay for me. We were children... well, I was a child, at least. I think you stopped being one the day they called you out of class.“

He wanted to tell her that it wasn’t true, that things had changed after his mother had found out about Hasslein. Once that tension had lifted, once it hadn’t been necessary anymore to be always so vigilant, to let nothing slip, their relationship had become much more relaxed, more playful, more... just better.

But the mission still had come first. Not Gina.

„I’m not a child anymore,“ Gina said. „I’m not okay anymore with being an afterthought. I want a future, Chris... you... you could come with me.“

Years ago, his mother had taken him, Gina, and Helen to an amusement park, in a desperate attempt to make up for her job-related absence with high-intensity quality time. Chris felt as if he was on that rollercoaster again, taking one unexpected turn after the other.

„I’m not going to study biology,“ was all he could say.

„You could study phyiscs there!“ Gina stumbled through the sand towards him and grabbed the fabric of his shirt. „We could have a future together, Chris, a _real_ life!“

He stepped back, which forced her to let go of him. „This _is_ real!“

„You’re forever chasing after the ghost of your father!“ Gina said, her voice now louder than the surf. „That’s no life, Chris, that’s floating in limbo! Have you ever considered that the _Icarus_ was lost because there’s something fundamentally _wrong_ with Hasslein’s theory? That maybe that’s the reason ANSA is cutting off the money?“

„There’s nothing wrong with his theory, or the technology!“ Chris said heatedly. „It’s bureaucrats and politicians who don’t understand the first thing about physics, who prefer to throw our money into their already bloated defense budget, to stave off the waves of refugees coming up from the South! And guess what, those people are fleeing because they’re being cooked alive down there, which is the main reason Professor Hasslein has been researching this hyperspace drive for the last twenty years! Because it’s _not_ just about the _Icarus,_ it’s about all of us!“

„Don’t fool yourself, Chris, for you, it’s all about your father.“ Gina bent down to pick up his jacket and slung it over her shoulders. Chris could hear her teeth clatter when she spoke, though he suspected it was because of anger, not the cold.

„It’s been seven years now - if there was a way back, don’t you think they’d have found it by now?“

„Depends on where they landed,“ Chris said, trying to calm down. „If it’s an uninhabited planet... or if they jumped back in time, into the Iron Age, or something, they wouldn’t have the technology to do anything. And if they jumped through time, they couldn’t even send a signal. The _Icarus_ hadn’t been outfitted with _Iris_ probes.“ The _Daedalus_ had them - probes that could tunnel not just through space, like the _Hermes_ comm satellites, but through time. If they took a wrong turn, they could at least call for help from beyond the void.

„What if they jumped through time, but not through space?“ Gina wanted to know. „Then they’d have ended up over Callisto, which is uninhabitable, no matter _when_ they’d reappear.“

Gina was asking all the wrong questions tonight - questions that had haunted Chris in those sleepless nights in his room, when the darkness had taken on physical weight, until he had no longer been able to bear it, and had gotten up again and poured over Hasslein’s physics lessons.

„And maybe you can only jump in one direction,“ Gina continued relentlessly, „and not in the other - and then you’d be stranded, too. Chris, don’t be on that ship! Hasslein won’t be on board, either, so why should you? And you’re a scientist, not a pilot - let someone else fly the ship, it would still be your victory!“

„But someone needs to operate the modified Hasslein drive, and I’m the expert for that,“ Chris argued, „so I’ll be the mission specialist. They’ll still need me. And the calculations say that you can jump in either direction.“

„Yeah,“ Gina retorted, „they’ll wait another ten years for you to grow up! You’re seventeen!“ She started to move up the beach, back to the parking lot.

Chris followed her at a distance. He tried not to feel as if this scene was somehow symbolic - as if Gina wasn’t just putting distance between them as she was walking back to the car, but walking away from him, out of his life.

But he couldn’t shake that feeling, and it scared him. Gina was... it was good to have her near him. She was calm, and cheerful, and _alive. H_ is connection to the normal world-

_Does that mean my world isn’t normal?_

Yes, Chris admitted to himself, that was exactly what it meant. Gina had been right - he had been dedicating himself to finding his father for almost half of his life. He had denied himself the life of a normal teenager, and had spent it in a dark, star-dotted niche instead, one that was filled with dread over his father’s fate, filled with equations that went over most people’s heads, and with secrets and lies to his own mother.

For a moment, he could see the life that Gina wanted for him - a bright, sunny morning in their kitchen, somewhere in California; Gina fussing over their baby, while was brewing coffee, or making pancakes, and they were talking about the day ahead. Gina would be at her institute, and he would be giving a lecture to the new students, and Gina was joking about him having to climb down into the elementary school of Newton physics...

A strange warmth was spreading in his chest, and it took him a long moment to identify it - he felt happy. He would be happy in this life. _Dad_ would be happy for him. Maybe his father would want this life for him - becoming a father himself, instead of just existing for Hasslein’s project...

And then the scene winked out, and instead of the golden glow of early morning, there was just the vast blackness of space, and the pale face of Callisto, and an overwhelming sense of loneliness in his heart.

_If I got lost out there, Dad would do the same for me. He wouldn’t give up on me, ever._

They drove home in silence.


End file.
